


making all our plans in the santa cruz sand

by cherryraindrops



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse, I think that's about it, Kidfic, M/M, Minor Character Death, Past Abuse, Safe Haven AU, minor depictions of violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-18
Updated: 2015-07-18
Packaged: 2018-04-09 22:33:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 25,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4366724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherryraindrops/pseuds/cherryraindrops
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Luke Hemmings is running, running from his past, running from the person he used to be. Landing himself in Sydney, he begins to start over as a brand new person, falling in love with a general store owner and his young daughter. </p><p>He never expected his past to catch up with him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	making all our plans in the santa cruz sand

**Author's Note:**

> So I’ve been working on this for months, and I mean months. Countless re-writes, giving up, pushing myself to write, it’s been a long journey. Thankfully I managed to get this all written up and was able to let it see the light of day.

Luke felt like his lungs were going to burst from running, but he couldn’t stop. Stopping meant that he would get caught, and that was something that the twenty three year old couldn’t afford to happen.

 

It’s raining, practically pouring and he’s crazy for being out in this nasty weather. He should be inside getting warm and preventing himself from being ill but he can’t go back to the house. The droplets are piercing his face, almost making it impossible for him to see where he is headed and they are currently soaking through Luke’s dress shirt and slacks. His socks are completely drenched from the puddles forming in his dress shoes and the tie he had been wearing around his neck had loosened and occasionally whipped back to slap against his face as he ran.

 

His destination was the train station across town, which he knew had at least one last train departing soon. He didn’t care where it was leaving to, he just knew that he would be fucked if he didn’t find himself on it and heading out of Brisbane. He had already ran five miles in the pouring rain and if he discovered that the train would be delayed because the crazy weather he wouldn’t know what to do.

 

He’s never left Brisbane before, having lived his entire life here. He remembers riding his bike around this neighborhood when he was a child. He remembers when his mother would tend to the white picket fence house they used to reside in when he was younger. All of those memories would forever be locked into his mind as the only good things about Brisbane, but he couldn’t stay here any longer.

 

His memory was fuzzy about what had occurred over the past hour, but while it was a little blurry he still could remember what was making him run, what was making him leave behind the only home he had ever known. He remembers the blood, the bruises, and the mess that he left behind in his house when he had darted through the back door to escape. He still had some blood on his hands, not having time to wash it off in his mad dash out. Staring at the red on his hands made him want to vomit.

 

He remembers the screams and taunting remarks that were shared between them, how his throat was raw near the end and his back ached from being shoved against the dining room table during the tussle. He was pretty sure it was bruised, and he could still feel the aching even now.

 

He finally stops running when he’s about a couple of blocks away from the train station to catch his breath. His lungs were burning, his face felt cold from the pouring rain and his legs were throbbing from the non-stop dash. He had never ran so much in his life, it was definitely taking its toll on him right now.

 

The loud sound of an engine rings through his ears and suddenly he remembers what he was supposed to be doing, where he had been heading this entire time. He swallows some more air and begins to jog the last couple of blocks and slams down the money to pay for his ticket. He doesn’t bother to listen to where the ticket seller says the train is heading, nor does he care. He adjusts the backpack he had slung over his shoulder and heads towards the train, looking around to make sure that he hadn’t been followed before loading himself onto the train and flopping down into his seat, exhausted.

 

Not even five minutes after he got on the train it began to move, the scenery disappearing as Luke stared out the window, rain droplets sliding down as the train departed from Brisbane towards a place that Luke would have to now call home, despite the fact he only had a single backpack to live off of. Luke didn’t mind too much: the backpack, while not much, was better than nothing. He definitely couldn’t go back to the house and get anything more anyway.

 

He lets the fatigue that he had been experiencing the moment he sat down take him over, hoping for a peaceful sleep. When he wakes up, he’ll be in a new place, getting a new start, a place where no one knew who Luke Hemmings was, nor did they care.

 

A brand new start.

 

*

 

The sun had just began to rise as Ashton began on breakfast, cracking a couple of eggs into a pan, both of them sizzling as soon as they hit. Ashton retrieved a spatula from the drawer next to the stove, nudging them around before grabbing some milk and pouring it in with the eggs. The toaster nearby popped out a couple pieces of toast, the microwave also beeping to signal that the bacon he had placed in there before had finished cooking. He hurries to scramble the eggs before grabbing the toast and placing it on the two plates in front of him, both already having a helping of hash browns that he had made earlier. He grabbed the bacon from the microwave and placed two slices each on the plates before finally sliding the eggs onto the plates.

 

“Lily!” he called out for his daughter, placing the two plates onto the bar in the kitchen. He places the pan the eggs were in into the sink and quickly rinses it as the small sounds of someone coming down the stairs are heard, a sleepy Lily rubbing her eyes as she enters the kitchen and smiles at the breakfast laid out in front of her.

 

“Hash browns!” Lily cheers, pulling out her chair and sitting down in front of her plate, picking up her fork and shoveling a large helping into her eager mouth. Ashton smiles at his daughter as he gets out two cups from the cupboard and pouring each of them a glass of orange juice, walking over to the table and placing one of the glasses by his little girl. “Thank you daddy!”

 

“You’re welcome princess,” he smiles, placing a kiss on his daughter’s head before sitting down in front of his plate and chewing on a piece of bacon. “I hope you slept well, I noticed that your coughing wasn’t as bad last night as it has been.”

 

Lily had somehow managed to come down with a pretty nasty cold, despite the fact that Ashton made sure she always had vitamin c and was as healthy as possible. He didn’t like when his little girl was sick because she became extremely clingy and sad. As much as Ashton loved his daughter he couldn’t be with her all of the time, making the times when she was sick extremely hard. He looked up at the clock as Lily began to talk about her cold, noticing that he only had about an hour left with his daughter before he had to head off to the store and work.

 

“Daddy?” Lily asked her father, making him look away from the clock to his little girl. “Do you think the rain will go away today? I want to play outside today but grandma won’t let me if it’s raining. She says that I’d track too much sand into the house if I did.”

 

“I don’t want you playing in the rain at all,” Ashton told her, looking outside the window as the rain pounding against their kitchen window. “Not when you are still sick, the rain and cold will only make it worse for you. Promise me you’ll stay inside today?”

 

Lily pouted but still nodded. “How long do you have to work today daddy? I want to go look for seashells again and make a bracelet for Calum.” His daughter was always wanting to make gifts for Ashton’s best friend, not to mention godfather. It made her face light up whenever she saw Calum wearing one of her various gifts.

 

“Hopefully no longer than six hours sweetie,” Ashton replied, finishing up the last of his scrambled eggs before taking his plate over to the sink. “Plus with this storm going the way it is there might be some pretty great shells coming out of the ocean this evening.” He walks over to the front door, where his jacket and keys are hanging up. “It also depends on how good you behave with grandma today if we get to go hunt for seashells, alright?”

 

She nods before heading over to the sink and placing her plate in there alongside her fathers. She then darts up the stairs to go change her clothes, Ashton opting to sit on the couch and wait for her. He pulls out his phone while he’s waiting, smiling as he glances at his phone’s background. It was a picture from when Lily was still a baby, asleep in Ashton’s arms as he smiled down at her. She hadn’t been more than a few days old and Ashton remembers being the happiest man alive when that picture had been taken. Everything had been perfect for them then, the Ashton in the picture unknowing of what would happen only a few months later.

 

Ashton had fallen in love in high school with a beautiful girl, both of them so in love and happy that they married when the two of them were only twenty years old. Lily came shortly after, a beautiful miracle for the two of them who were still swimming in newlywed bliss. Ashton’s heart clenched whenever he thought about those last few months before his wife had passed away, the memories painful but at the same time unforgettable. It made the experience even more painful.

 

After dropping his daughter off at his mother’s house, Ashton headed towards the little shop he owned beside the beach. He and his wife had opened it together in the first few months of their marriage, hoping that it would have been turned into a bed and breakfast. After Lily had been born that dream died, leaving them with the idea of opening a general store instead. It wasn’t the most popular general store in the small part of Sydney they resided in, but they were happy with the customers they had. Most of them were friendly locals who occasionally stopped by to say hello while others were from out of town, stopping in for some snacks or a bathroom. Ashton made sure to interact with every single one of them, being the friendly person he was.

 

He entered the store and sent a quick wave to Michael, his other best friend, who was currently at the register helping a little girl count out all of her coins for a package of bubble gum. The store was practically empty aside from the little girl, Ashton not surprised due to the storm outside. Not very many people stopped in when the weather was acting up, opting to stay inside and warm.

 

The little girl eventually left, Michael leaving the register to walk back into Ashton’s office, which was located in the upper part of the store. It used to be a small craft room for Ashton’s wife when she had been alive but had turned into an office for when Ashton needed to be alone or handle some things related to the store. Either way, it was Ashton’s sanctuary, one of his favorite places in the entire town was up there.

 

“Ash!” Michael called up the spiral staircase that lead to the office. The sudden voice made Ashton drop the stack of mail he had been carrying off of his desk, hitting the floor with a loud thud. Michael winced at the sudden sound. “Shit, sorry about that!”

 

“It’s alright Mikey!” Ashton insisted, grabbing the papers off of the floor and setting them down by his file cabinet. “What’s up?”

 

“I was wondering when in the world we were getting a new shipment of red hair dye? I’m starting to fade again and I’m not going to pay for the overpriced shit they sell down the road from here.” Ashton imagined that Michael was running a hand through his hair right now, a pout on his face at the thought that the red was fading back into whatever color Michael’s hair was to begin with. Ashton had never seen Michael without colors in his hair, he was actually quite terrified imagining what color his hair really was.

 

“Not sure when we get the next shipment in,” Ashton replied, walking down the stairs with a couple of pieces of the mail from that day in his hands. “Why don’t you just go buy the overpriced stuff? I can help pay for it if you’re really worried about the cost.”

 

The sound of the door opening brought their attention towards the entrance, both of their heads turning to meet the attention of the man who had just walked in. Ashton ended up dropping the mail in his hands, the envelopes floating to the floor as he locked eyes with the beautiful stranger in front of him.

 

“Hello,” the man said, running a hand through his long brown hair. “I’m kind of new to town, not really sure where anything is? I was wondering if you by chance had an idea of where I could find a cheap motel to stay in.” He began chewing on his lip, where Ashton noticed a small black stud was resting. He had dark brown eyes, his clothing ripped and torn to give off the appearance of edgy and punk. Ashton felt himself drawn to the complete stranger, completely unsure of what it was drawing him in. He would be lying if he said he never felt an attraction towards males, but it had been so long since that kind of attraction had come along. It was almost foreign to him at this point.

 

“Not sure where a cheap one is,” Michael replied to the stranger, Ashton obviously not going to answer him anytime soon by the dazed look in his eyes. “Sorry about that mate, you can stay here for a little bit until the rain lets up if that’s what you were worried about.” Michael had always been like that, pretty friendly with complete strangers. It wasn’t like it was an issue or anything, it was actually how the two of them had become friends in the first place. Ashton was lost after his wife had died, wandering around when he met Michael. The boy wriggled his way into Ashton’s life, slowly becoming a part of the friend group that was originally just Calum and Ashton. They had been best friends ever since.

 

The stranger chewed at his lip stud again and Ashton swore his pants were getting tighter by the second. “I was actually hoping for a permanent residence? I’m going through some, um, financial issues right now and can’t exactly afford a home around here, and I most certainly can’t go back to where I had been before….”

 

“Stay with me.”

 

Michael had turned to stare at his best friend incredulously, wondering if he had actually heard those words right. Ashton wasn’t one to share his house with anyone, especially with Lily around. He was highly protective of the little girl and who she was introduced to. So the fact that his best friend was bringing in a complete stranger and letting him live with them was baffling.

 

Ashton must have noticed Michael’s look of confusion because now he was explaining. “I have an extra room in my home, I’d be willing to let you stay for as long as you need. My only condition is that you get a job to help pay some bills, pay rent, just the usual housing stuff.”

 

The stranger’s face bursts into a wide smile as begins to thank Ashton profusely. “I’m very much willing to help out around here for a job, but if you aren’t hiring here I can gladly find another place.” He thanks Ashton again before heading down one of the aisles that contained some grocery items before Ashton turned back to Michael, who was rolling his eyes at him.

 

“I’m being nice,” Ashton tells him. “Doesn’t hurt you know? Common courtesy and what not. He’s a stranger to town looking for a new start, I remember that being you when we first met.” He picks up the mail he dropped when the stranger came in before placing it on the counter. “If I end up regretting it you can gloat all you want, but I don’t think this guy means any harm.”

 

Michael sighs. “Fine, play nice with a complete stranger. At least ask his name or something before you invite him into your home and let him play with your daughter.” He shoves a piece of gum into his mouth before pulling out his phone to play another level of Clash of Clans. Ashton begins to head towards the aisle the stranger is currently in, scanning boxes of pasta.

 

“Since you’ll be staying with me, I figured we should at least exchange names,” Ashton says, tearing the guy away from his shopping and staring into those brown eyes again. “I’m Ashton Irwin, owner of this fabulous general store. You?”

 

He notices the hesitation in the stranger’s eyes and wonders what he’s thinking. It’s as if he’s trying to build up something, trying to remember what exactly he was going to say to Ashton. “I’m Robert, I’m from Adelaide and figured I’d move here to get away from some things. Currently unemployed, obviously, but more than willing to take any job that might involve music.” There’s no stutter, no showings that this man could be lying to him and Ashton takes it.

 

“Alright Robert, once you are done shopping I’ll show you where I live and where you’ll be staying.” He gives him one last smile before heading back upstairs to his office, feeling somewhat happy and wondering if this stranger’s presence was going to be the start of something new.

 

*

 

 _You gave him your middle name, which should be safe right?_ Luke thought to himself as he walked with Ashton towards a beach house that was only a couple of blocks from the general store. As they walked, Ashton told him a little about the town, which was beautiful and definitely peaceful. There weren’t very many people that lived in this part of Sydney and Luke found himself relieved of that.

 

“I’ve lived here practically my entire life, have loved every second of it too. It’s quite the place to live or to raise a family so it’s been perfect.” They reach a small neighborhood that borders the beach, small suburban-esque houses lining the coast as they walked down the sidewalk. Luke adjusted the backpack on his shoulder as they reached a faded blue colored home that looked like a starter for families, not a home for a single guy. 

 

It’s a beautiful home, Luke can see that from the moment the door opens and he enters the front room. It’s small, with just a couch against the front window and an entertainment center holding a small television. There is a bookshelf against one of the further walls, along with some pictures hung of what appear to be a small girl. Luke looks them over, noticing Ashton in a few of the photos with a large goofy grin on his face as he poses the little girl for a picture.

 

“That’s my daughter, Lily,” Ashton tells him, coming up from behind to point at the picture Luke had been observing. “She’s at my mom’s house right now, I’ll head over there to pick her up after you get all settled in.” He begins to walk off and Luke follows him towards the hallway through the kitchen, where three doors are. “The room to the right is my bedroom, while the two rooms to the left are the bathroom and the guest room. There’s another bathroom upstairs across from Lily’s room as well, feel free to use either one.” He opens up the door to the guest room, where a bed is already made with baby blue covers and pillows. The room is a plain white with a painting of the ocean hanging just above the small dresser. “There’s a pretty decent amount of closet space too, but judging from the fact you only have backpack I’m sure that won’t matter.”

 

Luke places his backpack down on the bed before sitting down, feeling the comforter beneath his fingers. It’s cotton, soft. “Thank you for this, really. Starting tomorrow I’ll look for a job so I can pay you back for letting me stay here.”

 

Ashton smiles and nods at him. “I’ll help you with that, see if I can find you a job that involves music preferably. There’s a music shop downtown that my friend Calum happens to own, maybe he’s looking for some new employees.” There’s a silence that follows before Ashton claps his hands together. “I’ve got to go pick Lily up, you can come along if you’d like or you can stay here, I trust you not to steal anything?”

 

Luke lays back on the bed and sighs. “I think I’m going to get some rest, it’s been a long journey getting here and I’m pretty tired.”

 

“Alright, I’ll close the door so we don’t disturb you when we get back then,” he gives Luke another smile before walking out the door, gently shutting it behind him. Luke runs a hand through his newly dyed hair and sighs, getting up off the bed and looking out the window at the view of the ocean.

 

He wonders if they’ve sent search parties for him back home, wonders if they know if he’s here.

 

He hopes not.

 

*

 

“You’re here early,” Ashton’s mother, Anne-Marie, brings up when he walks through her front door. “Storm kept out most of the customers?”

 

“Pretty much,” he says, smiling as he enters the kitchen to see his little girl coloring at the table. “She been coloring all day?”

 

Lily had always had a knack for art. It was a pastime that Ashton had noticed when she was first starting to show signs of interest. She always seemed to be drawn to a crayon or marker and a blank space. While at early ages she only managed to make scribbles, as she grew up her scribbles turned into pictures that Ashton could actually tell were certain things. He always bought her coloring books whenever they got a new shipment knowing that was what Lily would want.

 

“Pretty much,” Anne-Marie says, walking into the kitchen and talking the glass of water Lily had been using for what appeared to be water color paint. “Guess who’s here sweet pea?”

 

Lily lifts her head up from her drawing and gasps once she sees Ashton. “Daddy!” she leaps out of her chair and darts for him, jumping into his arms and wrapping her arms around Ashton’s neck. “Can we go look for seashells? I was good today I promise!”

 

“I don’t know,” Ashton tells her before turning to look at his mother. “Grandma was she good today?”

 

Anne-Marie puts a finger on her chin to pretend she’s in thought, an amusing smile on her face. “I’m not sure, maybe if she comes over here and gives grandma a hug before she goes I could be persuaded to say yes?”

 

Lily giggles as Ashton sets her down and she jogs over to her grandmother, pressing a kiss into her cheek. “I love you Grandma!”

 

“Love you too sweet pea,” Anne-Marie replies as Lily darts towards the living room to put her shoes and jacket on. “So, anything interesting happen at the store today? Meet anyone new?” This is what they always did when Ashton picked Lily up: they would stop and talk for a while about the store, how Ashton was doing, Anne-Marie just making sure that everything is going well in her son’s life.

 

“Actually yeah,” he replies, resting his elbows against the island in the middle of the kitchen as Anne-Marie stands across from him. “This guy came into today, an out of towner. Not a tourist, but someone who is looking to move here from Adelaide. He was looking for some cheap hotels to stay at until he found a place.”

 

“Fresh start huh?” Anne-Marie asks and Ashton nods. “Weird that he would come here of all places. Did he seem like a nice man?”

 

Ashton nodded. “He seems like a pretty nice guy, didn’t really have much with him aside from a backpack. I’m letting him stay in my guest room for the time being, at least until he can find a place to live.” He takes in his mother’s look of disapproval and sighs. “Mom he’s not a serial killer, and I talked to him the entire walk back to my house. He’s just a guy down on his luck the least I could do is offer a helping hand.”

 

Anne-Marie frowns. “I just think it’s weird that he just randomly shows up, only a backpack on him? No proper luggage, did he explain that?”

 

“Yeah, said that he wanted a fresh start, with everything basically,” and Ashton knows deep down that it is fishy, but something in his heart is telling him that he need to take a chance on this guy. He’s really not sure what it is but it’s a pretty strong feeling that he can’t exactly ignore.

 

“Why here for a fresh start?” Anne-Marie further questions. “We are practically on the outskirts of Sydney, what is so special here? I’m not so sure about all this, he probably has a bunch of secrets he’s hiding from, or running away from.”

 

Ashton sighs. “I think I can trust him mom. If I didn’t I wouldn’t let him in my house where Lily is. This guy seems like he needs some help and I’m going to be the one to do it.” He runs a hand through his curls before letting out a sigh. “We better get going, Lily wanted to look for seashells along the beach to make a bracelet and it’s not good if it’s dark out.” He heads for the door as Anne-Marie puts a gentle hand on his shoulder.

 

“I didn’t mean to upset you,” she says. “I just want you to be careful.”

 

“I know mom, and I appreciate it,” he presses a kiss to her cheek. “I love you.”

 

“I love you too, have fun looking for shells.” She bids Lily goodbye as well before the two of them are off, heading back towards home. Anne-Marie’s words were still echoing in Ashton’s ears, and he was really starting to wonder if maybe he didn’t make a rash decision with Robert. He didn’t really know too much about this guy before just deciding to take him in, all that he really noticed was how beautiful he was.

 

He groaned inwardly when he realized that.

 

*

 

_I thought you loved me! You don’t do this to people you love!_

 

Those words had been echoing in Luke’s mind since he’d left Brisbane. He had tried to take a nap shortly after Ashton had left to go pick up his daughter but found himself unable to close his eyes without those words haunting him. He’d managed to block out any other noise, such as the sound of the ocean, but he couldn’t seem to lull himself to sleep. He’d yet to even get a decent sleep since he’d escaped and he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to again.

 

He was terrified of being discovered, that was for sure. He was grateful that no one had recognized him once he’d arrived in town but it was really only just a matter of time before he was. There was a reason he’d dyed his beautiful blond hair darker and covered up his blue eyes. He hated his new appearance, but he didn’t have much of a choice anymore about what he liked and disliked. At this point it was a matter of hiding.

 

The front door opened up and he rose from the bed when he heard the sound of a little girl laughing, a bag hitting the floor, and another beautiful laugh that followed. He peeked outside of his guest room as he saw Ashton and a little girl dump out a beach bag onto their kitchen table, seashells of all shapes and sizes pouring out. The little girl was bouncing excitedly on her heels as she sorted through the shells before running out of the kitchen and towards the stairwell.

 

“Hey.”

 

Luke jumped when he noticed Ashton staring at him, a small wave towards his direction. “My daughter and I are about to make seashell bracelets, would you like to join us?” He motions towards the kitchen table towards the array of seashells, and Luke gives him a small smile before walking towards the table.

 

The seashells were arranged by color, most of them a crisp white while others were a beautiful purple hue. They are pretty tiny, aside from a few that seem to be quite large. The sunlight shimmering in from the kitchen window makes them sparkle and give off various shades of beauty that make Luke stand there in awe.

 

“How do you make a bracelet out of these?” he asks, picking up one of the shells and observing it. “Wouldn’t it pierce the shell and break it?”

 

Ashton nods. “You have to be pretty careful not to shatter it, but luckily I’ve been making these bracelets since I was younger so I know how to be careful about it.” He gently takes the shell from Luke, their fingers brushing slightly. Luke’s breath seems to hitch at their touch but it seems that Ashton goes unaffected, placing the shell on the table as he grabs a drill. “The hole doesn’t have to be too big, just big enough to thread a needle through it.”

 

Luke watches as Ashton makes a small hole through the shell, holding it up for Luke to see. “Once Lily gets back down here with the needle and some thread I’ll show you how to make one, maybe even craft one for you?”

 

Luke gives him a smile. “I’d love that, thank you.”

 

Footsteps start coming down the stairs and Lily comes into view holding the needle and thread. The minute she locks eyes with Luke watches as her body language changes from happy to shy. “Daddy who’s this?” she asks, her voice small.

 

Ashton looks between the two of them before walking over to his daughter and taking the materials from her. “This is Robert, he’s going to be staying with us for a little while until he can get a place of his own. He’s from out of town but I promise you that he’s not going to hurt you.” He looks over at Luke as if to get an affirmation, in which Luke nods.

 

“Lily, right?” Luke asks the little girl, walking over to her and bending down to her level. “Your dad says that you are gonna show me how to make a bracelet out of seashells, is that alright with you?”

 

The little girl looks at Luke hesitantly before nodding slowly. She wordlessly walks back to the kitchen table and grabs one of the shells Ashton has already prepared, wounding the needle through the hole before attaching more shells. Luke watches from over her shoulder as she creates a beautiful bracelet, one with various colors and shades. Once the bracelet has been completed, she lightly touches Luke’s wrist.

 

“You can have this one,” She says, sliding it over his wrist. It’s a perfect fit, not too small and not to large. “You can help me make one for Calum if you want.” She grabs another shell before adding it to the thread before handing it over to Luke. “Calum really loves the pretty coral ones, so make sure his bracelet has a lot of those.”

 

As minutes pass by Ashton looks up from where he was drilling holes into the shells to see Luke and his daughter smiling and laughing as they make the bracelet, both of them taking turns sliding a shell onto the string. It’s been a while since Lily had been comfortable with someone other than him and the guys, and the fact that it was a complete stranger that brought her out of her shell was what amazed him the most.

 

Ashton had a feeling that this stranger was going to change his life somehow, and he was finding himself anticipating it.

 

*

 

The next morning Luke finds himself outside of a small music shop a few blocks from the general store. There’s a bright red door in front of him with loopy silver writing saying ‘Cal’s’ and a sign in the window showing that the store was open. It’s faded black exterior shows that the building is aging pretty quickly but it holds character that Luke has noticed the entire town has. He slowly steps into the store, where a song by the Foo Fighters is playing over the speakers. There’s a guy standing at the register bobbing his head to the music, flipping through a magazine. Once the door closes behind Luke the guy’s head turns towards him and he grins.

 

“You must be Robert!” the guy says, leaping over the counter and greeting him with a handshake. “Name’s Calum Hood, I own this beautiful establishment. Ashton’s been telling me that you would like to work here.” The guy has a friendly persona that Luke is grateful for and it already makes him feel like he’s going to love it here. “Good thing too because I need a new guy to help me in the guitar department. You’d be surprised at the lack of people who have knowledge on guitars in this town.”

 

Luke smiles. “I’m happy to help, guitars and music in general were my life when I was younger.”

 

That somehow makes the smile on Calum’s face grow even more. “Awesome! Always good to have someone who is actually passionate about guitars and music! Why don’t we head upstairs to my office and I’ll help get you into the system so you can officially be an employee here.” They begin to walk towards a set of stairs that led up to another room full of sheet music, ranging from various genres and artists. “We mostly keep overstock up here so you won’t see many customers up here. We only send them up here when there is a chance they might find what they want up here, which is rarely.” He opens the door to one of the rooms near the classical section and sits down in the chair by a small desk with various papers scattered around it. “So, you’re staying with Ashton?”

 

The questions takes Luke by surprise, because he definitely wasn’t expecting a question regarding his living situation. He may have only had two jobs before this one but he remembers the interviewers being more focused on what they could bring to the table and not his personal life. “Um, yeah? It’s only temporary until I can find a place to rent or something.”

 

Calum hums and nods at this, making Luke even more nervous. “Do you think Ashton is, I don’t know, hot?”

 

Luke splutters at the sudden questions, unsure of how to answer. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t think Ashton was a quite attractive guy but he wasn’t sure how professional it would be to admit that. He sees Calum smirk and he knows he’s screwed.

 

“Relax,” Calum laughs. “I was kidding, I’m just yanking your chain. I’ll admit though, Ashton is a pretty attractive guy.” He leans forward and whispers, “I can say that, I used to date the guy after all.” He sits back into his chair with a sigh. “Now we are the greatest of friends and honestly I wouldn’t change that for the entire world. We’re the kind of people that were only meant for a friendship.”

 

Luke has no idea how they could have spiraled so off topic and he’s really hoping it can go back and focus on the job again. “Um, what does this have to do with my role here?”

 

“It doesn’t,” Calum admits before getting up from his chair and heading out of the office, a confused Luke following him as they head back towards the front of the store. “I just wanted to make you squirm, see what kind of guy you were. Honestly the look on your face when I asked you what you thought of Ashton was so worth it. I’m going to have a good laugh with Mikey over it.” He hands Luke a blue folder from the counter. “This is some stuff you need to sign before you start working here, just some standard things.” He jumps back over the counter before turning back to Luke. “Your first shift starts tomorrow morning, so be ready and have those signed!”

 

As Luke leaves the store he finds himself really liking what this town is about, despite the weird people that live there.

 

*

 

“You did what?” Ashton demands Calum, watching as his daughter plays around on the pier. He’s trying to keep a close eye on her as he talks on the phone with his best friend, whose giving him a play by play of the morning’s events with Luke. “Lily please don’t get close to the edge I don’t want you to fall!”

 

“Okay!” comes the girl’s reply as she moves away from it, only to go back once her father is looking away.

 

“I was just playing around with him!” Calum is laughing on the other end and Ashton couldn’t help but laugh with him. “You know me Ash I have to joke around with the new recruits! Want them all to know that I’m not a hard ass like you.”

 

“I am not a hard ass!” Ashton insists, though he knows on occasions that he can be pretty tough with his employees. He wasn’t about to admit that to Calum though. “Anyway, so he’s got the job?”

 

“Yes, he has the job,” Calum tells him. “He’s not a terrible looking guy either, I’m honestly not surprised as to why you invited him to stay with you.” Ashton rolls his eyes at his friend’s words before letting out a small chuckle. “That’s why you let him stay with you isn’t it!”

 

“No!” Ashton replies, ignoring the rise in his voice that says otherwise. “He was a guy that needed some help and I was willing to help him out. Sure, I’m still a bit wary about him considering he did come out of nowhere…”

 

“Not to mention you know nothing about his past,” Calum adds, only making Ashton worry more about the situation. He’s already been stressing about letting a stranger into his home over the past few hours he doesn’t need Calum adding more onto it. “He could be a serial killer for all you know and he’s running away from the police. Who’s to say he’s even from Adelaide?”

 

“You’ve watched far too many Lifetime movies in your spare time Cal.” He begins to listen to his friend’s defense when suddenly there’s a loud scream and a splash from behind him, making him turn to see that Lily is no longer on the pier. He suddenly feels his body fill with shock as his eyes dart around the pier for any sign of his daughter before looking over the edge, noticing the little girl struggling to stay afloat in the water. Ashton finds himself regretting never teaching his daughter how to swim.

 

“Daddy!” she screams, trying to keep her head above water only to be shoved underneath it again, choking. Ashton’s about to dive in and fish her out when suddenly there’s someone doing it for him, already diving into the water and holding his daughter up.

 

It’s Robert.

 

Ashton has no idea where Robert had come from or when he got here but he doesn’t really care as Robert pulls Lily to shore, resting her on the sand as he makes sure she’s breathing and checking her pulse. He’s darting down to the sand to meet them down there just as his daughter starts coughing up salt water and crying.

 

“Are you alright?” Robert asks her, moving a wet strand of her hair from her face. “You shouldn’t play that close to the edge Lily you knew you could have drowned!”

 

Lily starts sobbing even harder as she suddenly launches forward, her little arms wrapping around Robert’s neck as she holds onto him tightly. Ashton watches as Robert hesitantly wraps his arms around the little girl and hugs her back, rubbing her back slowly to calm her down. Both of them are soaking wet and covered in sand now but they don’t seem to care.

 

Ashton watches them in amazement as his gaze meets Robert’s, a silent thank you shared between them.

 

*

 

All three of them begin to wake back up the beach towards the house to get a change of clothes when Luke realizes he doesn’t have any. He’d been meaning to get some shopping done to get some more clothes but money had been tight and he didn’t even know where to get clothes in this town. As soon as Lily is out of his arms and running towards her bedroom Luke opens his mouth to speak, but Ashton beats him to it.

 

“Thank you,” he says, and it wasn’t until now that Luke realizes that Ashton was in tears. They were spilling down his cheeks and he was breathing heavily. “I-I turned away for a few seconds and she fell off a-and I knew I should have t-taught her how to s-swim but….”

 

Luke doesn’t know what boundaries Ashton has set, but whatever they are they went out the window the minute Luke wrapped his arms around the sobbing man, holding him against his chest as he sobbed. “It’s not your fault Ash, she just lost her balance that’s all.” He rubs his back gently as Ashton sniffles, rising his head up from Luke’s chest to look at him. “Don’t blame yourself, alright? It’s okay, she’s okay.”

 

Ashton nods and unwraps himself from Luke, wiping at his eyes. “You should probably go change your clothes, I’m thinking of taking all of us out for dinner tonight.” He notices Luke’s hesitation and quirks an eyebrow. “Something wrong?”

 

“I don’t have clothes to change into,” Luke shyly admits, wringing his hands together. “I don’t have the money to buy some new clothes, all of the money I have I’m keeping for a house here to rent and to pay you back. Plus I don’t even know where to get clothes in this town.”

 

“Then we’ll have to do that tonight as well,” Ashton decides before leading Luke to his bedroom, walking over to the closet and pulling out some t-shirts and tossing them in his direction. “Until then you can wear some of my clothes. I don’t mind all that much, as long as you don’t ruin them.” He continues to rummage through his closet for clothes when suddenly arms are wrapped around his waist and Luke’s head is nuzzled into his neck. “Robert?”

 

“Thank you,” Luke’s response comes out a little sad and it makes Ashton curious as to why. “You’ve been so kind to me, and it’s been a really long time since I’ve had someone really, really, be kind to me. So, thank you.” He unwraps himself from Ashton and takes the clothes before heading towards the bathroom.

 

Ashton finds himself missing Luke’s heat from around him and he’s not sure why.

 

*

Sydney’s social scene is a bit different from Brisbane’s, Luke as decided. Maybe it was just the places he had been dragged too unwillingly by former friends, but Brisbane had always been dull and unexciting, while Sydney was always a whirlwind of something new, something that Luke had been craving for the longest time.

 

Ashton is taking them to a diner in town that he insists has ‘the greatest burgers in the history of burgers’. Luke isn’t too sure about that, but he likes the way the man’s face lights up when his daughter cheers at the sound of ‘greatest’ and decides not to question it. The little girl’s smile is brighter than anything and to dim such a thing would be a crime.

 

“Do I have to get something off the kid’s menu?” Lily asks, tugging on her father’s shorts as they enter the diner. “I want to be an adult! I want to get something from the big menu!”

 

Luke laughs at the girl’s insistence, ruffling her hair a little bit as they are led to their table. “I’m not sure you can handle the adult menu Lilypad, that’s a lot of food for a tiny little princess like you.” He offers her a joking smile, one that makes her giggle as she slides into the booth beside her father.

 

“I can handle it!” she insists, taking the menu out of Ashton’s hands and peering at it. “Daddy, what is a chicken steak?”

 

Ashton laughs at his daughter, kissing her cheek before taking back the menu and sliding her the kid’s menu and a small cup of crayons at the edge of the table for her to color with. “Big people food sweetie, you wouldn’t like it. How about macaroni?” The little girl huffs at that, grabbing a blue crayon and getting to work at the kid’s menu with a pout.

 

Luke laughs at the scene. It’s the kind of comfort the atmosphere around Ashton brings that he’s longed for his whole life. He wants someone that brings out the good in people, an optimist to keep his head above water when all else fails. He never had that in Brisbane, except with one person whom he was no longer in contact with.

 

Hopefully, he’ll never be in contact with them again.

 

“Hey,” he hears Ashton’s voice call to him, making him shake his head to rid himself of the thoughts of his past. There’s a concerned look on Ashton’s face when he looks up, his eyes soft and a hand outstretched towards him and giving his arm a gentle, reassuring touch. “You looked a little sad there for a bit, are you alright?”

 

Luke looks between Ashton and his daughter, the little girl peeking up from her drawing to give Luke an adorable grin. It’s that moment that Luke knows the answer, and it was simple.

 

“I am.” He says, and this time he’s not lying when he says that. He clears his throat, looking at his menu a little more before asking, “So, greatest burgers of all time huh?”

 

*

 

When Luke wakes up the next morning, he’s smiling like a goon.

 

Last night was the first time he’d really been happy. He’d stuffed his face until he felt like he was going to burst, and while he was expecting Ashton to look at him in disgust, he got the world’s most beautiful giggle instead. Even afterwards, when Ashton took his shopping for clothes, Luke had felt nothing but pure happiness as the sorted through various articles of clothing, laughing at the choices Lily presented them. It felt comfortable, like Luke was meant to be in Sydney.

 

Maybe he was, he just arrived a little late. Now it really did feel like a brand new start.

 

Turning to his side, he finds a note on his bedside table, written on a piece of notebook paper and with handwriting he doesn’t recognize.

 

_Robert,_

_I’ve headed out to work for the day, I’ll probably be home around six. Lily is at my mother’s house so you don’t need to worry about her. Calum says to remember that you have work today and to show up!_

_I didn’t have time to make a good breakfast but there is cereal in the cupboard and milk in the fridge. Feel free to eat any of it but the Fruity Pebbles; Lily might actually kill you if you eat her cereal._

_Ashton x_

 

Luke doesn’t miss the kiss added to the end and can’t help but blush. He’s sure Ashton meant it in a friendly way, but it still made Luke all flustered and happy. Pulling himself up and out of the bed, he heads towards the kitchen to pour himself a bowl of cereal before heading into the living room and turning on the television. He flips through a couple of local channels, mostly just news stations reporting the weather.

 

He least expects it when one of them shows his face.

 

_“Three days after the attempted murder of Derek Lawrence, Brisbane police are still searching for Luke Hemmings, the man behind the attempted murder. Witnesses last saw him running out of Lawrence’s home in a mad dash, though they are unsure as to where Mr. Hemmings was running to. If you have any idea where this man could be, please contact the authorities immediately, as he is believed to be dangerous.”_

 

Luke feels like he’s going to throw up. He knew sooner or later the news would start reporting the story, but he didn’t think it would be so soon. What if it was in newspapers or other news stations around town?

Shutting of the television, he dumps the rest of his cereal into the sink as his appetite fades away. He heads down the hallway towards the bathroom and strips himself of his pajamas, turning the water on and stands underneath the spray of hot water.

 

He came to this town to escape Brisbane, but it looks like Brisbane isn’t going to be letting go as easily as he thought.

 

*

Ashton doesn’t understand how he’s managed to do it, but it’s began to dawn on him the past few hours of work.

 

He’s falling for Robert.

 

It’s been two months since they’ve met, two complete months of Robert living in his home and the two of them practically being domestic and friendly and it’s been driving Ashton mad. It’s been an incredibly long time since he’s had feelings towards another human being as strong as the feelings he’s directing towards Robert, and it’s scaring him. Two months ago he didn’t even know the guy, not a single thing about him, and now he really thinks he’s falling in love with him.

 

It’s almost as if Robert had been there since the beginning. He’s managed to blend in so well with everything that it’s like they’ve known each other for years. Michael was a little suspicious of him in the beginning and is now practically best friends with him. Calum raves about his work ethic, saying Robert is a natural when it comes to the music world. Even Lily has grown attached to the guy, Ashton never seeing his daughter so happy to be around a stranger.

 

He walks out of his office and downstairs to the general store, where Michael is setting out some magazines. “I think I’m going to do it Mikey.” He says to the red haired boy as hops up onto the counter, thumbing through one of the magazines. “I think today’s the day I’m finally going to ask Robert if he’d like to get dinner with me.”

 

Michael laughs at him, giving him a shove off of the counter. “It’s about fucking time! You’ve been drooling over him since the moment you two met.” He gives Ashton a smirk, making Ashton flip him off. “Why now though, what made you decide that this was the perfect time to do it?”

 

“It’s been two _months_ , two months of getting to know this guy and what he’s about and if I have to say it’s been a _fantastic_ two months,” he leans against the counter and holds up his index finger. “For one, he saved Lily’s life. Two, He’s incredibly handsome, and while I don’t think of myself as someone who takes in account of appearances, he’s gorgeous. Three, Lily loves him. Need I go on?”

 

“I beg of you not to,” Michael replies with a friendly smile. “It’s nice to hear you so excited about the prospect of seeing someone though. I like seeing you smile Ash, it’s a nice change from mopey and sad Ashton that I’m so used to.” He nibbles at his bottom lip, looking down at his hands before saying, “Can I talk to you about something? It’s on the topic of relationships, so I figured right now is a better time than never?”

 

Ashton found himself curious, leaning forward a bit more. Michael was never one to talk about his relationships, nor did he talk much about his love life. He pretty much kept to himself most of the time but now he was talking and Ashton was wondering who could have possibly done this. “Tell me.”

 

Michael lets out a nervous laugh before rubbing the back of his neck. “I know you and Calum ended on good terms, and that you guys dated, like, a really long time ago, but I felt like I still needed to ask for permission, to, um, date him? Yeah, I want to date Cal.” He’s blushing and Ashton finds himself liking watching Michael get flustered. It was rare and he kind of wants to take a picture of it.

 

“You should!” Ashton tells him and Michael seems a little shocked. “I mean it, Calum has started lingering his eyes on you for far too long for it to be friendly, and so I know he feels the same. I say you take a chance and ask him, I promise you have my blessing.”

 

Michael gives him a large grin before wrapping his arms around Ashton in a tight hug. “Thanks Ash.” He pulls away, patting the older man’s shoulder before jutting a thumb out. “Mind if I go and do it now? I’m afraid if I wait too long I’ll chicken out of it or someone else will swoop in a take him from me.”

 

Ashton laughs at his best friend, scooting him out the door. “Go, and don’t you dare come back unless you’ve talked to him about it, alright?” He gives Michael a thumbs up before watching him dash off towards the direction of the music store. He’s happy for him, happy that his friends are going to be happy together. He knows Calum, knows that he’ll be perfect for Michael and the very thought makes him even happier.

 

Ashton looks up at the clock hanging above the store’s entrance. Just four more hours until Robert got off work, meaning Ashton had four hours to figure out a way to ask Robert out on a date and plan said date.

 

Until then, he’s going to stay in his office and monitor the store, hoping those four hours go by fast.

 

*

 

When Luke finishes his shift at the music store, he usually heads for the docks. It had become a thing when he had first moved to Sydney that at the end of each shift he would take the time to head over to the docks, let his feet hang off of the edge and watch the waves for a while, taking in the salty air and the soft ocean spray before he heads back to Ashton’s.

 

It surprises him when he finds Ashton at the docks this time, pant legs rolled up as his toes lightly skim the water, causing ripples on the surface. “Hey,” Luke says, making Ashton turn his head to see him walking towards him. “Surprised to see you here, where is Lily?”

 

“Spending the night at a friend’s, figured I’d come to the docks and wait for you,” he glances back down at the water as Luke removes his bag and sets it between them, removing his own shoes and letting his feet dangle off the dock beside Ashton’s. “Calum told me you like to come here when you get off work. Why is that?”

 

Luke shrugs. “It just became a thing for me, that after work I’d walk over here and just rest for a bit before heading back home. Sometimes there are other people around, other times I’m by myself with my thoughts. Usually I prefer the company but then again it’s nice to be alone.” He looks at Ashton, whose long hair is hanging in his face, and his eyes trace the man’s stature. “I like your company though.”

 

Ashton grins, tucking a piece of hair behind his ear and taking in a deep breath. Luke decides to take a risk then, scooting closer to Ashton and brushing their shoulders together, a smile on his face as he stares down at their dangling feet, skimming the surface of the water together. It’s quiet, and Luke loves the quiet. Brisbane was never this quiet.

 

“Can I ask you something?” Luke asks after a moment of silence. Ashton looks up at him, awaiting Luke’s question. “Lily’s mother, what exactly is the story behind her?”

 

“Oh,” Ashton bites his bottom lip, watching his dangling feet. “Um, she, uh, she passed away when Lily was a few months old. She got pretty sick, and while she tried fighting it as much as she could she wasn’t strong enough in the end.” There’s a tear rolling down his cheek, one he’s quick to wipe away.

 

Luke swallows. “Fuck, I’m sorry for asking. I just got curious about her because you have pictures of her around the house, and I didn’t even think she would- fuck I’m so sorry.” He regrets asking, hates the sad look on Ashton’s face from the question alone.

 

Ashton waves him off. “It’s alright, it was six years ago you know? It just hurts because I really thought she was my soulmate. I pictured the two of us living together until we were old and grey, Lily growing up with her mother right there. I didn’t expect her to die so young, but I wouldn’t trade Lily for anything in the world.” Luke just nods, staring at his feet and kicking the water more. “Hey,” Ashton whispers, bringing Luke’s attention back up to the man’s face. “I’m not sure if you had made any sort of plans tonight, but I figured with the house empty, aside from us, we could have dinner together, just you and me.” His eyes meet Luke’s searching for an answer since Luke has yet to speak up. “Does that sound alright to you?”

 

Luke wouldn’t deny that he’d felt an attraction towards Ashton from the moment he met. He was a kind stranger in the beginning, with his friendly aura and sparkling hazel eyes that welcomed him the minute he locked with them. Ashton was a new beginning, he’d given Luke a chance to start over without ever knowing it and Luke was forever grateful for the man beside him.

 

The idea of dinner, just the two of them, was the perfect idea.

 

Maybe that’s why he’s slipping his hand into Ashton’s, their fingers intertwining. A shock of electricity shoots up his arm at the touch, and it feels right. There don’t need to be words spoken between them at that moment, the way their hands are clasped together saying everything that needs to be said at that moment.

 

With the sun falling down in the background, Luke whispers, “I’d love that.”

 

*

 

The decide on staying at the house, Ashton cooking a homemade meal consisting of steamed broccoli, a house salad that Luke helped toss, and pork chops. It looked mouthwatering, and Luke couldn’t help but pile copious amounts on his plate when Ashton first placed them down. He catches Ashton staring at him and gives the man a sheepish smile, slowing down with his serving sizes. “Sorry,” he says, placing the salad tongs down. “This just looks amazing, you’re quite the chef.”

 

Ashton waves a dismissive hand at him, taking a seat beside him at the table and intertwining their legs underneath the table. Luke isn’t sure if he meant to do that or if it was a mistake, but he doesn’t bother questioning it. It’s nice. “It’s rare that I get to cook something like this. Usually dinner consists of dinosaur chicken nuggets and curly fries from a bag.” He pours himself a glass of wine, offering Luke a generous amount before placing the bottle down in front of them.

 

“So, Adelaide,” Ashton says, taking a sip of wine while keeping eye contact with Luke. “What made you want to leave there for a place like Sydney?”

 

“I needed a change of scenery,” Luke tells him as he cuts up his pork chops, placing a bit in his mouth and chewing. “I’d lived there since I was a child, and nothing ever changed. I was living in this routine that left me constantly unhappy. I was living with my parents, which I shouldn’t have considering I’m nearing my late twenties, and while I couldn’t find a job to save my life I knew I needed to move out. So I found Sydney, figured with the money I had I could at least find a cheap place to stay for the time being.” He feels his chest tighten, knowing that he’s lying to Ashton but it’s not like he can tell him the truth right now. He’s known Ashton almost a month now, but that’s not enough to completely trust him yet.

 

He wants to get to that point, but he’s not there quite yet.

 

“A new start is always nice,” Ashton replies, taking another drink of wine. “I considered one after my wife died, taking Lily to another town to escape the memories this one held, but it was home you know? As much as this place hurts to stick around, it’s getting better as time goes on. It’s where my life is, I can’t leave all of that behind me even if it hurts. Besides it’s nice to have Lily close to her mother without actually having her physically here.” He sucks in his bottom lip, pushing his salad around with his fork. “Like I said though, my life is getting better as years pass. I’ve met people that have made me happier, Lily makes me happier.” He looks at Luke, and there’s a small smile on his lips when he says, “You’ve made me happier.”

 

Luke grins back, taking Ashton’s free hand and holding it underneath the table. “You’ve made me happier too.” He repeats, and he means every word of it.

 

Dinner continues like this: laughing about stories of their past, talking about their childhoods and how ridiculous everything was at those times. Luke doesn’t lie about those parts of his life, true to every word as he tells Ashton stories of his parents, his life growing up. It’s only when he gets to his twenties that he fabricates a few things, and while he hates the guilt gnawing away at his heart at the thought of lying to Ashton, he knows it’s for the best. He can’t let Ashton know yet, he just can’t.

 

Their hands stay intertwined underneath the table.

 

“I had a really nice time tonight,” Luke tells him, after dinner when they are washing dishes together. It’s a team system, Ashton scrubs the dishes while Luke dries them and places them in the appropriate spots. “It’s been a while since I’ve had dinner with someone. Normally I’m stuck with Ramen Noodles alone on the living room couch.”

 

Ashton laughs, handing Luke another plate. “Seems like both of us don’t usually get out much. Glad to know that I’m not the only one.” He removes the plastic gloves he’d been wearing, letting the dish water drain in the sink as Luke places the last of the dishes away. It’s quiet then, as Luke closes the cupboard where the plates belong before turning back to Ashton. “I had a great time tonight too.”

 

There’s a silence between the two of them, a moment where Luke tries to decipher what it is exactly that is going through Ashton’s head. He wonders if Ashton is doing the same thing to him, analyzing him and trying to solve the puzzle that was Luke. So he doesn’t expect it when Ashton steps forward, placing a hand on the side of his face and looking at him with questioning eyes. “Is this alright?” he whispers as Luke grasps the counter behind him, trying to keep himself balanced.

 

The minute Luke nods, Ashton kisses him, sweet and tender. He tastes of summer, the sweet taste of wine on his lips combined with something that Luke can’t describe as anything but summertime bliss. He’s never felt a kiss quite like this before, and it feels comforting to have Ashton’s lips on his, working Luke’s mouth open. It’s the feeling of belonging, when Luke places shaking hands on Ashton’s hips and kisses him back, allowing Ashton to work his mouth open completely and allowing the man to slip his tongue in.

 

They get so caught up in the moment, Luke doesn’t even acknowledge that fact that they’ve moved to his room, and Ashton is lying him down on the bed and leaving kisses all over his neck. His eyes have rolled into the back of his head from the pleasure, and his back arches as Ashton nips at his sweet spot. He’s practically putty in the man’s hands, and there’s nothing else he’d rather be doing at this very moment.

 

“Can I?” Ashton breathes, his hands fisting the ends of Luke’s shirt. Luke gives him a slow nod as Ashton pulls the fabric up over Luke’s head, fingers tracing the outline of Luke’s hips the minute the shirt is tossed to the floor. “You are so beautiful.” He whispers, tracing Luke’s torso before his fingers land on pink and puckered skin, an outline of a scar that rests against Luke’s ribcage. Luke shivers at the light touch. “How did you get this?”

 

“Camping accident,” he whispers, resting his forehead against Ashton’s. “Playing around with a pocket knife, was always a careless child.” His hands rest underneath Ashton’s shirt, palms resting against his bare stomach. “May I return the favor?”

 

Once Ashton gives him a nod, he slowly removes the other man’s shirt and marvels in the beauty that is the sun kissed skin that lies underneath. There’s a small trail of hair leading down underneath Ashton’s pants, and Luke can’t help but glide his finger across it and trail his finger along the waistband of Ashton’s jeans. He’s so beautiful, and Luke can’t believe in such a short time this man has stolen so much of his heart, and is allowing him to show him how much love Luke has towards him.

 

The rest of the night goes by in what feels like slow motion, with gentle loving touches and open mouthed kisses in various places, some that have Luke clinging to Ashton and the man’s name sounding like a mantra from his lips. It’s the best Luke has felt in so long, and with Ashton filling him up and kissing him this way, he finally feels like he’s completely started over.

 

*

 

Luke wakes up with a warm body pressed against his and a light smile traces his lips as he thinks of the night before. He can feel the places Ashton showed his love, from the bruises pressed into his hips to the fading marks on his collarbone. All of it a reminder of how loved Luke felt that night, how loved _Ashton_ made him feel. It’s been too long since he’s let someone touch him like he allowed Ashton to touch him, and he finally felt safe in what felt like too long.

 

Turning around in the embrace Ashton has him currently locked in, he watches those beautiful hazel eyes flutter open, bleary from sleep but lighting up with something undetectable when they lock with Luke’s tired blue. “Good morning,” he whispers, nose brushing with Luke’s as they lie there, eyes locked together and Ashton’s fingers tracing the side of Luke’s face. “Sleep alright?”

 

Luke hums, nuzzling his face against Ashton’s. “We could have fallen asleep on the rough sand and I still would have answered that it was the best sleep I have had in a while.” He smiles sleepily before touching his lips gently against Ashton’s, enjoying the fact that he actually can do this now. It feels so right, the soft and gentle glide of their lips connecting and working together in harmony. He feels safe.

 

“As much as I’d love to just lie here with you all morning,” Ashton tells him, getting up from the bed and crawling over Luke to get to the floor. He grabs his boxers from the ground and slides them on, Luke tracing his body as he does so. “Lily needs to be picked up from her friend’s house and last I checked you have work today, don’t you?” He presses his lips to Luke’s one last time. “I’ll see you later, alright? I don’t want to make you late.”

 

Luke shrugs, grabbing Ashton’s arm and pulling him back down onto the bed with him and wrapping his arms around Ashton’s waist. The man squeals, giggling against Luke’s mouth as they lie there, sharing sweet pecks and laughs. “I’m sure Calum would understand.” Luke whispers, making Ashton chuckle.

 

“Lily won’t,” Ashton tells him, removing himself from the boy much to his own chagrin. “I promise that when you get off work tonight there will be plenty of kisses after, okay? For now though I have a daughter that needs to be picked up and you need to get to work and make some money to pay me back with.” He gives Luke a wink at those words before leaving the room to head towards his own bedroom.

 

Luke falls back against the pillows, heart thudding in his chest as he wonders just how lucky he truly is.

 

*

 

“You are awfully chipper this morning,” Calum comments as Luke finishes up a sale on one of their guitars, handing the customer their receipt before closing the cash register. “I mean, you’ve usually been pretty personal with all of the customers but today you’ve been smiling a hell lot more and have had this little skip in your step.”

 

Luke won’t deny that he’s been a good spirits that morning, and he knows exactly why he’s been in such a better mood. He’s not sure if he should divulge Calum in the details of that just yet though, so he opts to just giving his boss a shrug and saying, “Just had a good night is all.” He walks back towards the guitar cases, locking the case back up before he hears a sharp gasp behind him, making him turn to face a wide eyed Calum, a knowing smirk on his face.

 

“About time Ashton got the guts,” he laughs, clapping Luke’s shoulder and grinning. “Honestly I was wondering how long it would be until he cracked and did something about his feelings towards you. I’m impressed he lasted this long. He’s not one to crack that easily, hell it took him months before he asked me out and Michael said he’d been crushing on me for months.”

 

The sudden topic of Calum and Ashton’s previous relationship has Luke turning away from the guitars and facing his boss. The only thing he’s heard of their former fling was what Calum had said in passing during his interview, where he mentioned that he and Ashton had dated a while back and that had been that. Nothing had been brought up since, but now Luke was curious as to what had even gone wrong.

 

“How long did you and Ashton date anyway?” He tries, though he isn’t quite sure if Calum even wants to talk about something that has been put into the past. His question does make Calum stop what he’s doing, though he doesn’t turn to face the boy. “I mean, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, I’m just curious is all.” He tries not to stutter over his words, and nearly fails.

 

Calum chuckles. “That’s alright, I mean, if you and Ashton are dating now I guess you have every right to know about his past relationships.” He walks towards the front of the store, waving over one of the employees. “Luke and I are going on our breaks, keep watch over the store?” After the employee nods Calum leads Luke upstairs towards his office, locking the door behind him and settling down at his desk. “Don’t want any nosey people listening in you know?”

 

Luke nods, understanding. “Okay, so Ashton and I have known each other for quite a while, since high school actually. We were partners in crime, causing all kinds of madness for our teachers. Eventually Ashton came to me and confessed that he thought he was bisexual, and at the time it wasn’t exactly ideal for two guys to like each other in any way except friendship. For a gay guy like me, hearing that someone else was gay was a gift sent from above. I guess I wanted to finally be in a relationship after being alone for so long that I just kissed Ashton then and there.

 

“I knew it wasn’t love, Ashton knew that too. Still, we dated for a good year, sneaking kisses when people had turned their heads, quick hand jobs in janitor’s closets between classes. Yet the entire time I didn’t feel anything towards him other than a friendly love. Ashton eventually confessed to me that while he did love me, it wasn’t the same love it used to be. It had faded, and we both decided that we should just break it off. After that he ended up meeting Anna and they got married, had Lily, I became a godfather to her.”

 

Anna. It’s the first time he’s ever heard the name of Ashton’s dead wife. Having a name to match with her face makes it hurt even more, the angelic face in the pictures scattered around Ashton’s face now having more meaning, more life. Hearing her name, it makes Ashton’s past more painful in Luke’s eyes.

 

Maybe they’ve rushed things with each other, having only known each other for two months before falling into bed together. Luke has a life behind him that he’s been running away from while Ashton hasn’t even opened up about his past before Luke came along. Ashton doesn’t even know his real _name._

 

“You okay?” Calum asks him after a long silence, and Luke knows what he’s thinking. “Look, Robert, I’m sorry if I psyched you out or anything with bringing it up. That wasn’t my intention I promise, and I can tell Ashton it’s my fault and that I brought it up if that’s alright-“

 

“That’s okay,” Luke whispers, because the name Robert is now bouncing around in his head and taunting him. He hates the name now, absolutely _loathes_ it. It’s a lie, a lie he’s built that is bound to hurt everyone he cares about if he doesn’t own up to his mistakes. “You didn’t do anything wrong, I promise. I’m just going to go back to work.” He doesn’t bother waiting for Calum to follow him before heading back down to the shop, giving his attention to a customer before Calum could talk to him again.

 

*

Its pouring rain in Brisbane, has been for a couple of weeks now. Everyone at the train station has been huddled underneath the awning and resting on the benches, either offering umbrellas to standing passengers or trying to keep warm with their light jackets.

 

A man approaches the ticket station, knocking lightly on the glass to gain the attention of the attendant, who has been engrossed with a novel for several minutes. The man has his jacket pulled up over his head to cover himself from the rain pouring down, and is sliding something towards the attendant. “Have you seen this man?” he asks the attendant, who has now set down their book and is observing the photo.

 

“I might have,” the attendant responds, offering a shrug. “They look familiar, but then again I see a lot of people come through here every single day. Those eyes are hard to forget though that’s for sure. That type of blue is hard to erase from memory.” They slide the photo back, offering a sorry before turning back to their book.

 

The man won’t have that. “I need to know if you have seen this man, he’s wanted for attempted murder.”

 

The attendant’s eyes bulge out of their head at the words, their book once again being set aside as they take another look at the picture. The person smiling in the photo doesn’t seem to be the type of commit such a crime, with their wide smile and gorgeous blue eyes. They look like the face of innocence, not someone who tried to kill someone. “I honestly can’t remember what train he boarded out of here, I do remember him only having a backpack though. He was pretty scared too.” They pull out a large book, flipping through the pages. “Do you remember the exact date they left?”

 

Of course he does. The night flashes through his mind constantly, with the screaming and violence. Restless nights where he couldn’t sleep a wink because all that went through his head were the venom they spit towards each other. It was difficult to erase that night, to erase the night it occurred. It was their anniversary.

 

“Two months ago, the twelfth,” he tells the attendant. “His name is Luke Hemmings, you write down their names don’t you?”

 

The attendant shakes his head. “I don’t ask for personal information unless they are underage. Other than that people just purchase their ticket and get on the train that is all.” They close the book, sticking it back to where they had it before. “The only train that left that night was a train to Sydney. The next train there doesn’t leave for a few weeks though, considering they are getting some rail work done at their station. Would you like to purchase a ticket for then or find another form of transportation?”

 

The man gives the attendant a grin. “A ticket right now would be perfect, thank you.”

 

*

 

It’s a few days later, and Ashton’s upstairs in his office when a piece of paper is being slammed onto his desk, interrupting him in the middle of his paperwork. He glances up and is surprised to see Calum instead of Michael, who he was expecting it to be.

 

“Why didn’t you tell me I hired a fucking murderer?” Calum is seething, jabbing at the piece of paper with his index finger as Ashton slides his glasses onto his face to peek at it. It’s a poster from the police office, the top of it, in large print letters, is the word ‘WANTED’.

 

Underneath the word is a picture of a man, a man so familiar Ashton’s heart threatens to leap out of his throat.

 

It’s Robert, though in the picture he has the crystal blue eyes and his hair is blond. Instead of gelled up into a quiff its flat on his forehead in a fringe style. Ashton wonders if it’s possibly an old photo and the man that’s been staying in his house isn’t actually a murderer.

 

“I had no idea,” Ashton whispers, staring at the photo more and more, as if it’s going to change the fact that it’s Robert. He stares at the photo a little longer, reading more into what exactly is going on when he sees the name. “Wait, it says this guy is Luke Hemmings, not Robert Lawrence. What if it’s just a case of a lookalike?”

 

Calum rolls his eyes before grabbing one of Lily’s markers she leaves up in Ashton’s office, coloring over the hair and making the eyes brown before shoving it back to Ashton. “Looks like Robert now, doesn’t it?”

 

The resemblance is uncanny, Ashton can’t deny that. The thudding in his chest grows more and his eyes are burning with unshed tears. This wasn’t happening, there was no way in hell that the man he has fallen in love with, the man he’s allowed himself to fall for, is someone that committed such a crime. This was a joke, a prank that Calum must have set up to get a reaction out of him.

 

Right?

 

“What were you doing at the police station?” Ashton asks him, knowing that Sydney wasn’t exactly the town to post around ‘Wanted’ posters.

 

Calum rolls his eyes. “I went to go pay the overdue rent for my shop and my eyes happened to catch it while I was waiting for someone to assist me. Now, please tell me we are going to head back to the police station and report his ass before he ends up skinning you in your sleep.” It was a bit of an exaggeration, and if his heart wasn’t currently crumbling to pieces Ashton would have smacked him.

 

“Let me talk to him first,” Ashton says, taking the poster from his desk and stuffing it into his pocket. “I just need to know something first.” _Why he would lie to me, why he would let me love him if he was just hiding out, why he would do this._

 

He stops at the entrance of the store to turn and face Michael, holding the tears at bay. “Watch the store, I need to go talk to Robert.” _Luke, his name is Luke._

 

Michael nods, though he looks incredibly worried. “Yeah, I can do that. Is everything okay Ash?” Always the best friend, concerned. Ashton doesn’t have time to have Michael comfort him, leaving through the door the minute Calum places a hand on Michael’s arm and promises to tell him later.

 

His heart is thudding in his chest as he heads towards his house, rubbing his eyes furiously so he’s not blinded by his tears. Today was Robert’s day off, so he’s most likely sitting at home doing whatever it was he did on his days off. He was probably still asleep in Ashton’s bed, where the two of them had slept the night before. If he is there, curled up with the sheets bundled around him, Ashton wasn’t sure what he was going to do. He’d be vulnerable.  

 

When he opens the front door he’s immediately hit with the sweet smell of fresh cooked cinnamon rolls, his ears perking up at the sound of someone singing loudly in the kitchen to some song on the radio. He steps quietly towards the kitchen, his heart breaking even more when he sees Robert, _Luke,_ dancing around the kitchen, pulling cinnamon rolls out of the oven and setting them on the table, a bowl of frosting resting beside them.

 

“ _Take my hand, take my whole life too….”_ He sings, stopping when he sees Ashton standing there. A large smile spreads across his face, making him remove the oven mitts before approaching Ashton and cupping his face, pecking his lips sweetly. “ _Cause I, can’t, help, falling in love with you.”_

 

Normally, Ashton would fall into the man’s embrace and laugh at his silly antics, shoving him playfully before joining him in the kitchen to help with the cinnamon rolls. Now he just feels even more heartbroken, pushing Rob- _Luke_ away from him.

 

Luke looks crushed, the smile fading from his face as he takes in the sadness in Ashton’s eyes. “You okay? What’s wrong?”

 

Ashton doesn’t say a word, pulling out the ‘Wanted’ poster from his pocket and slamming it into Luke’s chest. “I want you out of my house. I don’t want you near me, I don’t want you near my daughter, who thankfully is at my mother’s house right now, and I certainly don’t want you near this town.”

 

Luke blinks in confusion, pulling the paper from his chest and observing before swallowing thickly. The past he’d been trying to avoid has now come rushing for him, and there was definitely no escape from it now. “Ashton, I need you to listen to me.”

 

“I already have,” Ashton chokes, trying to stop his bottom lip from trembling. “I’ve listened to you talk about your past, about where you came from. I trusted you, I let myself fall in love again because I thought you were the right kind of person to fall in love with. God, how stupid am I to do such a thing as fall in love with a murderer? How fucked up does a person need to be to do that?”

 

The ground feels like it’s crumbling beneath Luke’s feet, and he’s left scrambling to stay balanced. He should have known Ashton would find out eventually, he was stupid to believe he wouldn’t. “Ashton, I really need you to listen to me please.”

 

“After all this time,” Ashton whispers softly, trying to find the right words in his scrambled mind.  “How could you lie to me?” he asks, needing answers.  “Please tell me that everything we’ve shared, everything we’ve done together wasn’t just so you could avoid the police because I refuse to be some ruse.”

 

Luke shakes his head tearfully. “No, Ashton I swear to god all of it was really me, every part of it. I told you the truth about everything except for where I’ve come from and what brought me here. Everything else was all me.”

 

“Then what the hell brought you here huh?” Ashton demands, standing his ground. “It sure as hell wasn’t to get away from your parents that’s god damn certain. What is your excuse then, what bullshit are you going to feed me to convince me that you are not psychopath!”

 

Luke let’s out a shuddered breath, pulling his shirt up over his head and tossing it to the floor. He touches the scar on his ribcage, swallowing before whispering, “It wasn’t me that attempted to murder someone, it was my fiancé. He, he attempted to murder me.” He looks up at Ashton, noticing that while the hardness in his eyes has diminished there is still a bit left, untrusting. “This scar is from being nicked with a steak knife from dinner one night, when I accidentally cooked his steak medium instead of medium rare.”

 

Ashton stares at him in sadness, stepping towards him gently before letting his own fingers trace the scar again, just like he did the night they first slept together. Luke shivers underneath his touch, and Ashton needs to know more. “You ran away because you were being abused, didn’t you?”

 

Luke nods sadly. “I understand if you don’t want to be with me anymore. I’ve lied to you, you don’t deserve someone who’s lied to you.” He tries to laugh it off, picking his shirt up off the floor and pulling it back on.

 

“Don’t say that,” Ashton says, resting his palm flat against Luke’s stomach. “While I was thrown off about you being a murderer, I understand now why you’ve been such a mystery. Now all I want to know is the whole story, unless you don’t want to talk about it…”

 

Luke shakes his head, resting their foreheads together before letting out a deep sigh. “I need to, though it’s going to be rough for me.” He moves his hands to rest on Ashton’s hips, the heat of his hands hot against Ashton’s skin. “Why don’t we talk while I frost these cinnamon rolls? It will be easier for me to be doing something while I speak so I don’t feel like I’m going to be swallowed whole.”

 

Ashton laughs softly, kissing Luke’s lips before nodding. He takes Luke’s hand and leads him to the table, both of them taking a frosting knife and getting to work as Luke speaks.

 

“It started two years ago, when I met Derek at a bar. I’d never been quite lucky when it came to the dating scene, so I figured I’d just hook up with people for a while. I wouldn’t get my heartbroken if I was just a one night stand. There were no feelings involved in sex with strangers, it was easier. I didn’t expect that one night to go further, but for a while I was glad it did. Derek treated me like a king, always showering me with affection and showing me that I was loved. For an entire year I was so in love with him that nothing else mattered.

 

“A year ago things changed. Derek was demoted at work, which hit him pretty hard. He’d failed to close a case regarding a little girl being kidnapped and it hit him hard. The police force had been his entire life and being told that he was no longer head detective hit him hard. He’d worked so hard to get there and it was torn away from him. He started drinking more, and I should have taken that as a warning.

 

“One night he smashed a bottle against the wall, started screaming at me that I was the reason he didn’t close the case. I was too much of a distraction and he couldn’t focus anymore.” He halts his actions, his grip on the knife tightening. “I remember waking up with a black eye and him sobbing beside me, saying he was sorry and that he was worried I wasn’t going to wake up.”

 

“You don’t have to continue,” Ashton whispers, taking his hand in his. “I know this is hard for you, don’t force yourself to talk about it if you are not ready.”

 

“It’s okay,” he insists. “I want you to hear this, it’s only fair. I’ve lied to you, I need you to know the truth.” He breathes again, continuing. “The night I escaped here, he’d tried to kill me. We were having a nice dinner at the house, he told me to dress up for the occasion. I knew I needed to get out, so I had planned to knock him out somehow so I could run. I didn’t expect him to catch on, and he threatened to stab me. I managed to take the knife from him before smashing his head with a vase. He managed to gather everything I could while he lied there, covered in blood and I didn’t bother checking to see if he was alive or not. I just needed to get out.

 

“The first train out was to Sydney, so I bought a ticket and left. I couldn’t risk being caught, so I used my middle name as my first name, used Derek’s last name, and dyed my hair brown. I pierced my lip and changed my style, even wore colored contacts.” He closes his eyes, reaching to take the contacts out and toss them in the garbage. Ashton gasps as the beautiful blue underneath is revealed, showing Luke’s true self. “I needed a new start, and you offered that. I didn’t expect to fall in love with you, but I did.”

 

Ashton laughs softly, reaching forward and kissing Luke gently. He holds Luke flush against him, whispering, “You could have told me that, I would have understood.”

 

“I couldn’t take that chance,” Luke admits, tracing his finger over Ashton’s bottom lip. “I don’t know what I’m going to do now, Derek is most likely going to track me down and drag me back to Brisbane, I can’t let him.”

 

“I’ll protect you,” Ashton decides, watching Luke’s face flicker with worry. “I refuse to let some psycho take you away from me, not after everything that’s happened between us. I want to be with you, I want to share a life with you, and I’m not going to let some abusive asshole ruin your life more than he already has.” He wraps his arms around Luke, holding him tightly.

 

“I don’t want to drag you into my problems,” Luke mumbles into Ashton’s hair. “I love you too much to get you hurt, to risk getting Lily hurt. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself is something happened to you both.”

 

“This is my choice Luke, and my choice is to protect you,” He pulls away, kissing Luke softly one last time before walking back towards the cinnamon rolls. “Now, how about we start over? Calum still thinks you are a murderer and probably thinks you’ve killed me with how long we’ve been talking.”

 

Luke laughs at that, and despite the danger hanging overhead, everything feels okay.

 

*

 

Calum is observing him hesitantly, his grip on his fork tightening as he sits across them at the dining room table. Michael is beside him, not sure if he should be looking at his boyfriend and keeping him calm or drawing his own conclusions about the man. Luke understands, though he’s still shifty in his seat as he holds Ashton’s hand underneath the table.

 

It’s Lily that breaks the awkward silence.

 

“Why are we being quiet?” She blurts out, looking between the adults at the table with confusion in her dark hazel eyes. She doesn’t understand the tension between the adults, the secrets between them. Ashton will tell her someday, will tell her everything she needs to know as to why everything right now was so awkward and uncomfortable. For right now though, it was best if she didn’t know, considering she probably wouldn’t even understand.

 

“No reason Lily bug,” Michael assures him, wondering if he’s the only one in this situation who isn’t entirely clueless as to what to do at that moment. “Want to tell me about the beach today? Your daddy said Grandma took you to the beach and you played in the ocean?”

 

That seems to be a reasonable enough conversation starter, as Lily begins to tell the tale of her day at the beach to Michael. It breaks the awkward tension in the air, as Ashton chimes in on some of her story telling and Calum laughs at some of her exaggerations. It’s only Luke that doesn’t know his place quite yet, but he’s getting there. Yeah, he’s getting there.

 

“I also found some pretty shells to decorate my fish tank!” Lily cheers, taking a drink of her juice. “Daddy said that if I can find enough shells my fish tank will be so beautiful!” The mere thought of her fish tank being decorated to perfection is enough for her to smile so wide Luke is sure that her cheeks will ache. The little girl is so happy about the littlest things, Luke loves hearing all of her stories despite most of them being complete nonsense.

 

“What about you, _Robert,”_ Calum asks, enunciating Luke’s fake name. “How did you spend your day, considering today was your day off and all? Do anything fun? Committed any crimes?” He’s being rude, Luke knows it’s on purpose. He’s trying to rile him up, but he’s not going to let Calum have that.

“I actually made cinnamon rolls,” he reveals, playing around with the food on his plate. “Homemade, my mother’s recipe. While I can’t say I did them justice I still like to believe that they turned out quite nice.” He’s trying to act civil with his boss, possibly _former_ boss, but it’s difficult. Calum knows an entirely different story, one that isn’t near the truth. Luke just hopes he can have a chance to talk to him privately and explain himself.

 

Ashton gave him an abridged version, one that just consisted of telling Calum to, “Just trust me, he’s not a bad guy.” While Luke appreciated his boyfriend’s help in the situation, he knew it wasn’t going to make it any better if Calum still continued to think of Luke as some murderer. They needed to discuss it privately, and not in front of Lily of all people.

 

Calum hums, slamming his napkin down a little roughly onto the table. Luke jumps, his eyes widening at the sudden movement. He knows Calum is just angry, and that he really doesn’t mean a whole lot of harm, but the action makes Luke stiffen and suddenly his breathing has become uneven as memories flash through his head at hyper speed.

 

_“You are so fucking worthless Luke!” Derek yelled, slamming his napkin down roughly at the table. “Why are you such a pathetic waste of skin? I ask for something as simple as making a steak and you can’t even do that?” He slams his fists on the table again, even more rough than before and Luke screams, backing out his seat and hitting the wall behind him._

_That’s when Derek lifts his steak knife, and Luke’s mind grows fuzzy._

He feels someone’s hands on his shoulders, someone’s soft voice speaking to him but he can’t focus. His breathing is getting heavier by the minute and he feels like screaming, pushing the hands off of him and running out the door. All that’s going through his mind is Derek’s angry voice, his angry hands, the sharp edge of the knife.

 

“Luke!” he hears Ashton’s panicked voice call, his hands the ones holding him gently and rubbing soft circles with his thumb on his shoulders. It’s Ashton that’s attempting to bring him out of this, Ashton who is using soft, gentle words to bring him back. He reaches out, touching Ashton gently and allowing Ashton to pull him in for a hug as the tears finally spring.

 

“You’re okay,” Ashton whispers, running a comforting hand through his hair. “It was just a flashback, nothing but a flashback. I promise you are okay, you are here with me okay?” There’s a pair of lips pressing into his hair and he holds Ashton tighter, sobbing into his chest.

 

When he pulls away, there are shocked faces staring back at him. One of them is Calum, his chocolate eyes wide and unsure, but also laced with worry. Michael has his arms wrapped around a scared looking Lily, who looks as if she’s on the verge of tears. Luke feels awful for scaring the girl, wants to reach forward and comfort her just as Ashton comforted him.

 

“Luke,” Calum whispers, reaching forward gently. He decides against this, pulling his hand back slowly after. “I think we should talk privately, would that be alright? I think it would be better to talk about this in private rather than in front of everyone.” He turns back to Lily, who is now cowering in her father’s arms. Ashton is pressing sweet kisses into her hair, trying to calm the girl down.

 

Luke nods, wiping at his eyes before jutting a thumb out towards his bedroom. “We can talk in there.” He says before heading towards his room, Calum following him quietly.

 

*

 

When Ashton wakes up in the morning, Luke is curled into his side, snoring softly in his ear. The night before had been rough on the man, judging by the puffiness of Luke’s eyes and the redness surrounding them. He leans forward, pressing a gentle kiss to Luke’s forehead before removing the man’s arms from around him and heading towards Lily’s room.

 

After the conversation with Calum the night before, his best friend was willing to keep Luke at his store. While he was still angry that Luke lied to him, he understood completely as to why the lying was necessary. He still asked Luke consistently if there was anything else, in which Luke kept denying. It was nice, finally having everything in the open and Ashton was grateful to finally see the real person Luke was after all the lies.

 

Lily waking up when Ashton enters her room, rubbing her eyes before staring up bleary eyed at her father. “Morning daddy,” she mumbles quietly, blinking a bit.

 

Ashton grins, kissing the little girl’s forehead before picking her up from the bed, holding her to him. “You want to make Luke breakfast with me? I think it would be good to do something nice for him after last night don’t you think?”

 

Lily nods, resting her head against Ashton’s chest. “I thought his name was Robert daddy.”

 

“Robert is his middle name sweetie,” Ashton tells her, walking down the stairs and setting Lily down on the kitchen counter, opening the various cupboards to get stuff out for breakfast. “Luke is his first name. From now on we call him Luke, alright?” He kisses her forehead before pulling the cinnamon rolls from yesterday out, taking three out and placing them on the kitchen table. “Want to help me make some eggs to go with those cinnamon rolls?”

 

Lily nods excitedly, Ashton helping her off the counter so she can go get the eggs from the fridge. She grabs the carton quickly and places them on the counter where she previously sat. “Daddy, are you and Luke dating now?”

 

Ashton nods. “I believe so Lily bug, is that alright with you?”

 

The little girl plays with her hands nervously, looking down at her feet. “Do you love him?” It’s such an innocent question, and Ashton knows Lily doesn’t quite understand the weight of those words, but the minute they left her mouth it really made Ashton think.

 

The realization was quick, and he doesn’t hesitate to say, “I do, I really do.”

 

They make breakfast in silence after that, only breaking it when Luke shuffles sleepily into the kitchen and grumbling about Ashton not being there when he woke up. Lily squeals when Ashton presses a good morning kiss to Luke’s lips, only for Luke to laugh and pull Lily into his arms and tickle her tummy.

 

They’re acting like a real family, and for the first time since his wife died, Ashton finally feels complete.

 

*

 

It is a few weeks later that Luke wakes up with a scream lodged in his throat and flashes of that night running through his head. He’s breathing heavily, the ghost feeling of cold metal against his skin as he shoots up from the pillow and rubs his eyes. Moon light is spilling through the window across the room, the ocean waves sparkling outside. It reminds Luke that he’s not in Brisbane, he’s safe, but it’s not enough to calm him down.

 

He’s careful not to wake up Ashton, who is still sleeping soundly in the bed. Soft snores escape his open mouth and Luke wants to reach over, move the strands of hair that are covering the man’s face, but he can’t risk waking him up. Luke needs to be alone right now, and he’d rather not have Ashton awake and worrying about him anymore than he does when he’s awake.

 

Luke grabs his jacket from the coat hook by the porch and slips it on, disregarding his shoes in favor of waking barefoot onto the sand. There’s only a slight chill as he walks along the shore, but it’s that breeze that helps him stay alert and think, think about everything but the nightmare that’s haunted him for months.

 

His mind wanders to the new life he’s created here in Sydney, from the friend’s he has made to the man he’s fallen in love with in such a short span of time. He thinks of little Lily, who has become a daughter to him, someone he’d protect to the ends of the Earth if he had to. Here in Sydney, he’s finally become the person he’s wanted to be all along: someone who is loved, someone who feels safe and secure, someone who finally believes they are where they truly belong.

 

It’s refreshing.

 

He walks to the docks, where he normally sits after his shifts at work. Sitting down at the edge, he pulls his legs to his chest and watches the water and just breathes in the ocean air, breathes in the place that has become his home.

 

It’s there, in the crisp early morning air, that he’s completely unaware of the fact that someone is watching him.

 

*

 

Derek doesn’t understand why of all the places in the world his fiancé could have ran away to, he chose this place. Sydney wasn’t near as beautiful as the suburbs they fell in love in back in Brisbane, nor does it have the charm. The only thing this town provides was a hiding spot, a pretty terrible one at that. This is the type of place his fiancé would stick out like a sore thumb, not a place where he could blend in.

 

He arrived in town late the night before, the train pulling in later than it was supposed to. It made him grumpier than usual, and all he knew was that the minute he got off that train he needed to find a liquor store, or at least some place that sold alcohol. He was frustrated, and the one thing that would certainly take the edge of was a bottle of vodka.

 

Luke always hated when he drank, said it made him into a person that he did not fall in love with. Derek didn’t understand how that was possible, he wasn’t a changed man when he drank. He liked to think of himself as a better person when he had alcohol in his system, he became a man more worthy of Luke’s love. When he was sober, he was a mess.

 

He stumbles towards the general store in sight, though it is most likely closed considering how early in the morning it is. The lights are off inside, the small sign on the door saying ‘Closed’, with the hours indicating that it won’t be open for another four hours. Derek groans to himself, resting his back against the door and sliding down before burying his face in his hands. He’s tired, just wants to have a bottle, find his fiancé, and go home.

 

He looks off towards the docks, and he sees someone sitting alone underneath one of the lights. He wonders if they are like him, alone and just wanting their love back in their arms. He wonders if their life is falling apart, for what other reason would someone be sitting alone on the docks this early in the morning.

 

Another person soon approaches them, another man who pulls him into their arms and kisses the side of their head, sitting beside them to watch the ocean together. It reminds Derek of the beginning of his and Luke’s relationship, how happy and secure they were. They were so in love, so young and looking forward to creating a wonderful life together.

 

Both men are kissing each other gently now, so sweet and pure that is makes Derek’s heart hurt in his chest and the craving for a drink grow. He wishes this general store was open so he could hurry and satisfy his craving, but there are still hours until then.

 

Derek watches as the man get up, holding each other’s hands as they head back towards the array of houses alongside the beach. They don’t speak any words to each other, just walk side by side in comfortable silence. It’s then that Derek notices something about one of them, something he should have noticed before underneath one of the dock lights.

He’s not sure if it’s from how little of sleep he’s running on or if it’s something else entirely, but he swears that one of the men was Luke.

 

*

 

It’s been a long time since Ashton has woken up to kisses being pressed to his neck, arms wrapped around his waist and pulling him into them. There’s a hand lightly pushing through his hair, so soft that he finds himself leaning into the touch. When he finally manages to open his tired eyes he finds Luke staring at him, a smile gracing his tired features before he whispers, “Good morning.”

 

There is something about Luke is the morning that Ashton loves most of all. It’s in the mornings that Luke seems to be different than he is during the day, a different aura to him that only Ashton gets to pleasure of seeing. He’s gentle, warm, and his skin is smooth to the touch as Ashton allows him to pull him into his bare chest, the quiet beating of the man’s heart so calming that Ashton might as well drift back off to sleep. He’s starting to see the person Luke was back before he was running, before he actually felt safe with someone. He wishes he had known this Luke sooner.

 

He shifts in Luke’s arms, turning himself to brush their noses together and shuts his eyes, breathing in the scent of Luke. “Did you get any sleep?” he asks, referring to last night’s restless sleep Luke had experienced. He hates that there was someone out there, someone that had caused Luke so much pain, and now they were haunting Luke’s dreams. Ashton wishes there was something he could do to take away the nightmares.  

 

Luke hums, whispering against Ashton’s lips. “A little.” There’s a light jingle coming from the door knob being turned, and Luke quickly presses his lips against Ashton’s in a quick kiss before pulling away from the man and heading towards the bedroom door to let their little intruder in. “You could have just knocked sweetheart.”

 

Lily ignores him completely, darting towards the bed and wrapping her arms around her father. “Good morning daddy!” she chirps, giggling and pushing her long blond hair out of her face. “Are we still going to the festival today?”

 

Luke raises an eyebrow at this, sitting on the edge of the bed and allowing Lily to take his spot cuddled into Ashton. “Festival?”

 

Ashton opens his mouth to explain, but it’s Lily that beats him to the punch. “It had games and a Ferris wheel!” she turns back to her father, a look of pure glee on her face. “Are Calum and Michael coming?”

 

“Of course they are!” Ashton tells her, kissing her cheek before pulling himself out of the bed and picking her up in his arms, laughing as she squeals with delight. “How about we go have some breakfast and get all cleaned up so we can head out?” He sets Lily down in the doorway and lets her take off towards her room before turning back to Luke, wrapping his arms around the man. “I was thinking that you should get out of the house and see the town for once instead of just seeing the basic spots.”

 

“Well I can’t disagree with that,” Luke grins, pecking Ashton’s nose before grabbing a towel out of the hallway closet. “Too bad Lily is downstairs, I was hoping we could save some water and shower together.” He gives Ashton a flirtatious wink before heading off towards the bathroom, leaving Ashton with blush tinting her cheeks.

 

Luke was going to be the death of him.

 

*

 

Lily wasn’t wrong about the festival: there was a gigantic Ferris wheel towards the docks that stood out more than anything. Alongside it were various vendors and booths, all boasting about their products or games and trying to gamble in people to play. Michael had managed to drag Calum into buying him a large bag of fairy floss from one of the vendors, and currently he was sharing it with Lily, who was sitting on his shoulders.

 

“I can see face painting!” Lily cheers, pointing ahead. She leans down a bit to look at her father, who is currently ahead of them holding Luke’s hand. “Daddy can we get our faces painted?”

 

Ashton hums for a moment, stroking his chin with his free hand before smiling up at his daughter. “I’m not sure, have you been being a pretty good girl this entire time?” He gives her a wink, making the girl giggle. “Michael, mind driving the little girl towards the booth? I’ll meet you there.”

 

Michael laughs, jumping a bit before looking up at Lily on his shoulders. “Ready princess?” off of Lily’s nod he’s taking off down the dock, heading towards the booth and Ashton laughs before pressing a kiss to Luke’s cheek and taking off after them. Luke smiles fondly at the scene, his chest warm with love.

 

Calum’s beside him then, hand clasped on his shoulder. “I’ve never seen Ashton so in love with someone,” Calum says, and it sounds reminiscent in a way. “Since Anna anyway. It’s been hard to get Ashton to open up, yet somehow a runaway from Brisbane managed to sneak in and get our Ashton back into his happy self.” He shoves Luke’s shoulder jokingly. “Why Sydney, if you don’t mind me asking?”

 

Luke shoves his hands in his pockets, laughing as he keeps his attention ahead to watch Michael and Lily. “It was the only place the train was heading to, so I took a chance. I figured that if the train was heading out of town, it had to be heading somewhere far enough away that I could escape. Sydney just happened to be that stop.” He clears his throat, casting his eyes downward. “These past three months are the happiest I’ve ever been in my entire life. Being here in Sydney, here with Ashton and Lily? I’ve never felt safer in one place before.”

 

It’s nice, finally saying those words out loud. It’s been far too long since Luke had felt safe somewhere, felt safe around someone. He’s been cowering and apologizing for years now, and to finally be in a place where he can be loved and protected was something he had been anticipating for so long. Now that he finally had it, he wasn’t going to let it go.

 

There’s a pair of arms wrapping around him when he least expects it, making him jump slightly, but it’s just Calum, pulling him into a hug. “I don’t know all that you went through back in Brisbane,” Calum whispers, holding him tightly. “But this is your home now. I’m your home, Michael is your home.” He pulls back to offer a smile, one that is so comforting and friendly Luke wants to pull him back in for another hug. “Ashton and Lily are your home. We are your new family.”

 

“I’ve never really had a friend before,” Luke confesses, laughing softly as they begin walking again. “Back home, Derek was holding me on a pretty tight leash, controlled who I spoke to and wouldn’t allow me to discuss anything with anyone. It’s nice to be here and have someone to call a friend.” He nods at Calum. “A best friend.”

 

He’s being serious too. Sure, Michael has been quite the friend to him since he’s arrived in Sydney, but it’s Calum that’s really shown just how much of a friend he is to Luke. While Ashton was the first to really open himself up to Luke, it was Calum that entertained Luke at his job, offered to buy him lunch on their breaks and would crack jokes that made Luke nearly fall over laughing. To have someone like Calum to speak with, either it be about something personal or about Ashton of all things, was nice.

 

Calum grins at him, pulling him into a quick side hug. “I hope you know that now that you have given me the role as your best friend that you can never take it back, okay? From now on you are stuck with me from here on out.” Luke laughs softly at that and hugs Calum back before the two of them hurry down to where Lily is getting her face painted, Calum quick to join Michael over where a separate artist is painting his face and kissing his cheek.

 

Luke observes the artist painting Lily’s face, moving to sit over by Ashton, who is also watching. “What did she decide on?”

 

“A dolphin,” Ashton replies, reaching into Luke’s lap and interlocking their fingers together. “She wanted all of us to get a dolphin, but Michael said he wanted to get a dragon instead.” He points over to where their friends are, Michael appreciating his new dragon face art while Calum laughs at him and kisses him with a smile. It makes Luke smile too, seeing his two friends happy together.

 

He feels something begin to crawl into his lap and nearly jumps a foot in the air, only to turn and see Lily sitting on him, smiling at him with a beautiful painted dolphin on her cheek. “Luke look at my dolphin!” she squeals, leaning forward to show Luke the face painting.

 

Luke smiles at her before picking her up off of his lap and resting her against his hip, smiling at her. “It’s beautiful Lily! What made you want to get a dolphin?”

 

The little girl begins her long story on a trip she took with Ashton, explaining how they saw dolphins while Luke turns to look at Ashton, who has now taken a seat at the artist’s stool and is getting his own dolphin painted on his cheek. His eyes are closed, relaxing his face as the artist uses her brush to paint his cheek and Luke has a fond smile on his face as he watches him. Lily’s story is still going on, and he turns his attention away from his boyfriend to smile at Lily and kiss the cheek that’s not painted, making her squeal and laugh and Luke swears he’s never felt so much love towards two people in his entire life.

 

Ashton and Lily were two good things in the mess that had become his life, and he’s never been more grateful to have met them.

 

*

 

The sun is starting to fall down, hiding itself amongst the waves that continue to crash and painting the sky various shades of oranges and purples. Luke watches as some of the surfers start to come back in to the beach, shaking their wet hair and laughing with their friends as they head back towards their vans. He wonders if he should try surfing sometime, though he’ll have to drag Ashton along if he attempts to.

 

Off of Lily’s suggestion, the five of them decided to ride on the Ferris wheel, though Lily insisted she ride with Michael and Calum instead of her father. While Ashton was a bit wary about letting his daughter ride without him it was Calum that assured him Lily was going to be just fine. Besides, if anything happened Luke and Ashton were just a cart away.

 

Ashton’s peeking over at the cart, worry marks etched into his face as he watches his daughter interact with her uncles. Luke wonders if Lily’s never been this apart from her father before, aside from when Ashton is working or she’s at school. Hoping to ease the nerves of his boyfriend, Luke rests his head on Ashton’s shoulder and kisses the man’s jaw.

 

Ashton turns, smiling at Luke and kissing his forehead. “I know, I know, I shouldn’t worry she’s just with Michael and Calum.” He shifts his movement, wrapping an arm around Luke and holding him close before nudging his nose against Luke’s temple. “It’s nice to be alone with you, even if it is just for a little while on this thing.”

 

Luke grins at that, resting his eyes as the slow rocking of the Ferris wheel lulls him towards sleep. It’s soothing, not to mention the feeling of security in Ashton’s arms makes him feel comfortable enough to just take a nap right then and there. His mind is at ease, and he’s got a beautiful man to love him and hold him close as he’s rocked towards slumber.

 

“Luke?” Ashton whispers softly. “Have you ever thought about being engaged again in the future?”

 

Those words make Luke stiffen. He’s never thought that far into his and Ashton’s relationship, he’s pretty sure they are not even close to having this discussion just yet. They’ve known each other for only about two months after all, only dating for a small portion of that. While Luke already felt like he was a part of Ashton’s family that didn’t mean he was ready to marry the man.

 

Ashton must have noticed how uncomfortable he was, because now he’s moving and looking Luke in the eye. “I don’t mean I want to put a ring on your finger anytime soon, we’ve still got time before that, I was just wondering if you’d ever warm up to the idea of being with someone like that again.” There’s an unspoken _with me_ in there that Luke’s heart flutters at, because if he’s being honest, he wouldn’t mind being with Ashton for the rest of his life. What worries him is that it’s too soon to really make such a decision. They are still new, and Luke hasn’t quite let go of a lot of things from his past. They are working towards forever, but it’s still miles away.

 

 

“Maybe,” is his response, looking down at their intertwined hands. “I guess I just need more time to figure out when exactly I’ll be ready for something like that. I mean, Derek really did love me, and he’d never laid a finger on me until after we’d been engaged.” Flashes run though his mind of the broken relationship, and his grip on Ashton’s hand tightens. “I know you are good for me, I know that you are just good all together. I just can’t give away my heart as easily as I used to though because I got quite a heavy dose of what it’s like for that to be abused.” He stares at Ashton once more, taking in his boyfriend’s expression before saying, “I’m so scared it’s going to happen again.”

 

Ashton gets that, he does. While he’ll never quite understand what Luke went through, what kind of hell Luke was forced to endure under someone he thought he loved, he’s trying. He’s never loved anyone the way he’s loved Luke, with the exception of his dead wife. He’s not sure he’ll ever be able to love someone as fiercely as he loved her, but he’d sure as hell like to see if he can.

 

He just hopes Luke will allow him.

 

“It won’t,” Ashton promises, lightly touching Luke’s cheek and kissing his nose. “He’s gone, never coming back. As long as I’m around, I promise that you are always going to be safe and that you’ll never have to wonder if you are loved because I will show you how much I love you. I don’t care how annoying it gets, I will make sure that every second for the rest of your life that you know that someone in this world loves you, and that someone wants you, all of you. Not just parts, or small doses.” A feathery kiss to his lips. “I love every part of you, Luke. Even the parts you hate.”

 

It’s meant to be a touching moment, but Luke still giggles, which is a good sign, Ashton guesses. “That sounded like you borrowed it from some cheesy romantic comedy.” Before Ashton can protest, Luke is pulling him into a kiss, just as the Ferris wheel stops to let more in. The sunset is in the background, making the moment even sappier, but Luke can’t find it in himself to care all that much.

 

To him, the moment was absolutely perfect.

 

*

 

A festival definitely wasn’t in Derek’s agenda during his stay in Sydney, but he did know it was going to be his best chance at spotting his runaway groom. It was almost as if the entire town had decided to go out and have fun today, completely unaware that they had a wanted murderer among them. He found it sickening, that Luke could just live among them for two months and have none of them suspect a single thing.

 

He’d asked around for Luke, but no one seemed to even know who he was. There were a couple of people that said they recognized him from the music store he worked at, though they insisted that his name was Robert and that he didn’t look too much like the man in the picture Derek presented.

 

He had just left the music store, where a sign on the door said they were closed for the festival. Now Derek has found himself sitting on a bench, the sun setting in the distance and he still hasn’t found Luke. It’s ridiculous that he hasn’t managed to find him yet, when he was so sure this rescue mission was only supposed to last a day. He doesn’t have time for Luke to be playing hide and seek, he needs his fiancé to come home now.

 

He takes another swing of the bottle in his hands, his fifth that day. With the stress of Luke still missing and the fact that his boss is going to have his ass soon if he’s not back, he needed a few drinks. Derek doesn’t care what his boss said about drinking on the job, it helps his judgement if anything.

 

He stands up a little too quickly and sways, a small giggle escaping his mouth when he almost crashes into a little girl holding a balloon. At least, he swears it was one girl. She’s seemingly splitting into two different people as she walks away with her mother, or mothers.

 

Derek can’t quite tell.

 

He’s decided to head off towards the Ferris wheel, where there seems to be an entrance to the beach right next to it. Maybe if he dips his toes in the sand he can think a little better, clear his head. Staggering over to the sand, he’s halfway there when he sees a group of people getting off of the Ferris wheel, and his heart thuds in his chest.

 

It’s Luke. His beautiful, missing fiancée is right there in front of him, laughing with a group of people. There’s a little girl amongst them, jumping at Luke’s feet until he scoops her up in his arms and kisses her cheek. The sight enrages him.

 

Luke’s being happy with another family. He’s kissing a little girl’s cheek, a little girl that Derek most definitely knows is not Luke’s, and he’s laughing with people that Derek knows are the ones hiding him. How dare them, hiding a murderer amongst them and are cracking _jokes_ with him. If they had any sense they would have turned Luke into the authorities, right where he belongs. Luke doesn’t deserve to be happy after what he’s done.

 

That’s not even what makes Derek’s anger pique either. What really makes him furious is the moment he sees one of the people in the group, an older man with long, dark hair, take Luke’s hand and kiss his lips. He shouldn’t be touching something that’s not his, didn’t they teach that in kindergarten? This man needs to know who Luke belongs to, and it most certainly isn’t him.

 

Luke was his, all his. Luke promised that to him all the time, promised Derek that there would never be anyone else for as long as he lived. Wasn’t that what they promised each other when they got engaged, whenever they made love? Derek knows he’s messed up time and time again, but Luke always came back to him.

 

So why is he allowing another man to kiss his sweet lips, allowing this man to hold his soft hands and whisper sweet words against his lips? Derek was the only one allowed to touch Luke in such a way, as long as Luke still had that ring on his finger he was Derek’s, all Derek’s.

 

The thought of this man pleasuring Luke is what makes him really sick. It’s been two months since Luke left, was this why? Because he had a side piece waiting for him off in Sydney? Derek should have known, Luke had always been quite the looker and it was only a matter of time before he wandered off and found someone else. That broke Derek’s heart, but he was far too angry at the image of his man touching Luke, kissing Luke, making _love_ to his Luke to focus on that.

 

They begin to head towards the beach as well, the little girl squealing about fireworks as they head off towards the ocean. It’s more public than Derek wanted, but this could quite possibly be his only chance on getting Luke back in his arms.

 

And if that man he was with tried to get in his way, he’d kill him.

 

**

Lily can’t seem to leave Luke’s side, though it’s not like he’s complaining. He loves the little girl, though her persistent tugging on his pant leg can grow irritating. She doesn’t mean to cause annoyance though so he simply smiles at her and answers her questions.

 

This time, she’s asking about their view from the dock in front of Ashton’s store, where all of them will be watching the fireworks tonight. It’s the perfect view of the ocean, not to mention the perfect view of Ashton out on the small boat with Michael, where the two of them are currently helping the fire department set up the amazing display they will be seeing that night.

 

“What if daddy can’t make it back in time to watch them with us?” Lily pouts, watching her father laugh at some joke Michael cracked.

 

Luke wraps his arms around the little girl’s waist, pulling her into his lap. She cuddles into his embrace automatically, still pouting. “Well Lily pad, he’s the one setting them off tonight so he wouldn’t even be able to watch them with us even if he wanted to. He’ll still see them, just with Uncle Mikey, okay?” He kisses her cheek, where her dolphin face art is starting to peel. “Besides, you have me and Uncle Cal, isn’t that enough?”

 

Lily nods, a large smile on her face as she cuddles further into Luke’s embrace. Its then, with the little girl holding onto him and the fireworks about to go off, that he hears Lily say, “I love you Papa.”

 

Luke expects these words to make his heart stop, but he didn’t expect for his body to fill with so much love and affection towards the little girl. Sure, the past two months have brought him to have an incredibly close connection to the girl, but he never once suspected she would call him that, at least not right now anyway.

 

“I love you too Lily.” He responds, heart soaring when the little girl leans up and kisses his cheek before getting up and running off towards Ashton’s store, opening the door. She’s probably going to grab her doll from Ashton’s office, so Luke doesn’t bother with following her. She knows where it is, and it’s not like the shop is far off. If anything happens, Luke could hear it.  

 

There’s a pair of footsteps behind him, making the boards on the dock creek. He turns, expecting Lily to be back already but instead finds Calum, holding two bottles of beer that are dripping with condensation. “She called you papa,” he hears Calum say, handing him a bottle of beer before he sits down beside him on the dock. “Surprised you aren’t freaking out right now over that.”

 

“I am,” Luke manages, taking a swing of beer. “That’s a huge deal Cal, not just to her but to me. I’ve only been here for two months, been dating Ashton for less than that. One of the biggest things that scares me is letting that little girl down. Now that she’s called me that, that fear has pretty much grown.” He picks at the label on the bottle, distracting himself. “What if I let them down?”

 

“You’ll only let them down if you make yourself believe you are going to let them down,” Calum takes another drink of his beer. “You make Ashton happy, you make Lily happy. I think the only real way you could let the two of them down is by leaving, and I’m pretty sure you don’t plan on leaving here anytime soon.” He looks back the store, eyebrows raised. “Where’s Lily anyway?”

 

Luke’s curious himself. She should have been back by now, the office hadn’t been locked and Luke was pretty sure she had just left her doll on Ashton’s desk. “I’ll go check on her,” Luke tells Calum before getting up onto his feet, walking towards the store and heading towards Ashton’s office. “Lily?” he calls up the stairs, but he doesn’t receive an answer. His heart begins to pick up speed as he dashes up the stairs and bursts the office door open, only for his heart to stop completely at what he sees.

 

Lily’s cowering in the corner of the room, tears pouring down her cheeks as she clutches her doll with a tight grip. There’s a gun aiming directly at her, the man holding it a little haphazardly and shaky. Luke’s sudden presence makes the man turn and face whomever has entered and Luke’s blood runs cold when he comes face to face with the man he’s been running from this entire time.

 

 

There’s a sick smirk on his face, which is unshaven and dirty. Luke can see the glossy look in his green eyes, showing that Derek hadn’t changed at all since Luke ran away. He’s still drinking, his mind clouded with booze. Now he’s aiming a gun at Luke’s little girl with a sick, sadistic grin.

 

“I was hoping it would be the little bitch this girl belongs to,” Derek hiccups, staggering towards Luke drunkenly. “But I’m so glad it’s you baby, I’ve missed you.” He’s lowering the gun, letting it rest at his side as he slowly approaches Luke. He’s close enough that Luke can smell the alcohol in his breath, and it nearly makes Luke throw up.

 

Lily is still stuck in the corner, sobbing harder now as Derek saunters towards Luke with that disgusting smirk. While Luke knows he shouldn’t act rash when dealing with a man with a gun, he knows he needs to get Lily out of here, get her to Calum before she gets hurt. So without thinking, Luke swings his elbow forward and watches as it connects with Derek’s nose, knocking the man over and making him drop the gun.

 

“Luke!” Lily sobs as she rushes to her papa’s embrace, clinging to him as Luke is quick to dash down the stairs, leaving Derek to cower on the ground and recover. He hears Derek screaming behind him, cursing his name and repeating the same exact words he yelled the night Luke ran away.

 

“I thought you loved me!” His cold, broken voice shouts down the stairs. “You don’t do this to people you love!”

 

Luke clutches Lily closer as he bursts out of the store, heading towards Calum. His best friend looks at him with confused, worried eyes and before Luke can explain what exactly is happening, there’s a loud slam as the door to the store has been burst open. Three scared faces turn back towards it, where Derek is standing there, angry and covered in blood from his broken nose.

 

His gun is pointing directly at Luke and Lily.

 

“You thought you’d gotten away this time, didn’t you baby?” Derek says, stepping closer. Luke hands Lily to Calum, who clutches her tightly against him as she begins to cry once again. “You thought you could run off and play house with another family, go ahead and let another man make love to you and cherish you the way I did. Why would you do that to me baby? Don’t you love me anymore?” He hiccups again, and Luke knows he needs to choose his words carefully. He can’t risk Calum and Lily getting hurt.

 

“I do love you baby,” he lies, stepping closer with his hands raised. “I’m so sorry I left again, I’m so, so sorry. You know that I love you, just put the gun down.” He’s close enough to take the gun from Derek himself, but with Derek’s finger resting against the trigger he can’t take the chance. “If you just set the gun down, I’ll go home with you. I won’t run away again, okay baby?”

 

Derek’s stance begins to falter, the gun lowering down until it’s pointing down at the deck. Luke can see the anger fading away in his eyes, replaced by sadness and the love that Luke wished Derek had for him all along. “Okay, I can do that baby, for you.”

 

The gun falls to the ground, and that’s when Luke dives for Derek, knocking him to the ground before turning and yelling, “Calum get her out of here!”

 

His best friend nods, running off the dock with Lily in his arms as Luke attempts to keep Derek pinned to the ground. Derek’s always been stronger than him though, and before Luke can react he’s being flipped until he’s pinned underneath Derek, the man’s knees keeping Luke’s legs locked. His arms are being held down by Derek’s large hands, and the sick, sadistic smile is back on his face.

 

“You lied to me!” Derek screams in his face, making Luke squirm and fight to get away. “You don’t lie to the people you love Luke baby, you have to tell them the truth.” The grip on Luke’s wrists tightens, and he screams and how much it hurts. “How am I going to get you to behave for once?”

 

Luke manages to get his arm ripped from Derek’s tight grasp, knocking his fist roughly against the side of Derek’s head as he pushes the man off of him. He doesn’t know where to turn after that, but he does know he needs to grab the gun before Derek can get his hands on it once more.  

 

Unfortunately, it seems Derek had the same idea. The two of them go for the gun at the same time, and suddenly they are fighting for possession of the weapon, wrestling each other in an attempt to keep the other away. Luke’s trying to kick at Derek’s stomach, get the man off of him but Derek manages to overpower him by far, punching Luke’s face.

 

One of them pulls the trigger in their fight for the gun, and the sound of the shot rings through the air just as the fireworks have started to go off.

 

**

 

Calum hears a loud boom right as the fireworks begin, and he hates how he can’t tell if it’s the gun that crazy man was holding or the actual firework. He can’t see Luke from where he is now, down on the sand attempting to calm Lily down. Both of them are frazzled, emotions everywhere, but Lily is more scared than Calum is by far.

 

“What if he kills papa?” Lily cries, trying to run back to the docks. Calum tries to hold her back, but the girl puts up quite the fight. “I need to make sure papa is okay!”

 

“You need to stay here while I call the police Lils,” Calum insists, dialing a number on his phone as Lily pouts in front of him. The station answer quickly, and Calum practically sobs with relief. “Hello, I’m at the beach, right in front of Irwin General and there’s a crazy man with gun trying to kill one of my friends.” His voice is shaky, and there are tears streaming down his face as he tries to see if Luke is okay, if he’s handling himself or if Calum needs to go back.

 

The woman on the other end assures him that someone is on their way, and Calum practically cries with joy.

 

**

 

Ashton wishes Luke was right next to him watching these fireworks.

 

While he’s glad that his boyfriend is keeping Lily company during the celebration, he just wants his family by his side to look at just how gorgeous they are from his view. He has Michael with him, sure, but it’s just not the same as having his daughter and the man he loves right beside him watching.

 

“I got it from here boys,” the head of the fire department tells them, setting up the last of the fireworks. “Darren over there has a boat going back to shore right now, why don’t you go with him and go watch these fireworks with some friends?”

 

“Thanks Carter!” Ashton grins, shaking the man’s hand as Darren’s boat approaches them. As he and Michael pile into the small boat and begin to head back to shore, Ashton turns back and watches as the remaining fireworks light up the sky, various colors vibrant in the night sky. It’s absolutely stunning, and he can’t wait until he’s on shore with the two people he loves the most to see the finale.

 

The minute the boat is docked Ashton is taking off towards his store, hoping to make it just in time for the finale. He can see Luke and Lily now, resting on a blanket, Lily probably curled into Luke’s side as they watch the spectacle together. His perfect little family.

 

He least expects it when he walks to his store and sees Luke lying on the ground, red staining the front of his shirt. His heart falls, his feet moving quickly towards his boyfriend with tears in his eyes. He kneels beside him, choking when he sees Luke’s blood stained hands covering what appears to be a gunshot wound.

 

“Luke, what happened,” he whispers, holding his boyfriends face. It’s coated in sweat, and Luke is swallowing an awful lot and making himself choke. “Is Lily alright?”

 

Luke nods. “Cal-Calum has her,” he hisses then, the pain from the gunshot wound shooting up his spine. “Ash, baby you need to get out of here, he’s here, and he’s going to kill you if you won’t go.”

 

Ashton furrows his brow. “Luke, whose here?”

 

The click of a gun sounds behind him right at those words, and Ashton slowly turns to look behind him. There’s a man standing there, smelling ripe of booze and covered in dirt and grime. “I want you to explain to me, why you are being all kissy and lovey with my fiancé.” His words are staggered, slurred, and Ashton knows automatically that not only is this man drunk, he’s dangerous. “I want you to explain to me why I shouldn’t put a bullet in your head for making love to the love of my life.”

 

“You don’t love him,” Ashton spits at him, standing his ground. “If you really loved Luke, you wouldn’t have abused him whenever he did something wrong. You wouldn’t have hidden him away from the world and make sure that he never met anyone else. If you actually love this man as much as I love him, you wouldn’t have laid of single finger on him.”

 

Derek yells, bringing the gun down to smack Ashton in the head, only for Ashton to punch him in the gut. He splutters, trying to catch his breath while Ashton smacks the gun out of his hands and watches as it topples off the dock and into the water below. He turns around quickly, diving for Ashton and tackling him down onto the hardwood of the dock. Ashton is quick to bring his arms up to block his punches, delivering some of his own when Derek least expected.

 

He didn’t realize how close they were to the edge of the dock until both of them are tumbling to the water below, Derek’s hands around Ashton’s throat.

 

“NO!” Luke screams, though he regrets it almost a second later as the pain from his wound shoots through him again. He attempts to crawl over to the edge, praying for one of them to come up to the surface, but before he can get there someone is pulling him up, placing a cloth against his wound. Someone is guiding him towards an ambulance (when did that get here? Wouldn’t he have heard the sirens?), and he’s far too weak to wrestle out of their grasp and see over the dock’s edge.

 

“You have to go into the ocean!” He tells them weakly, tears spilling down his cheeks. “My boyfriend and my attacker, the two of them fell in and I don’t know if they are alive, if one of them is dead, I need to know-“

 

“What you need is to relax, stressing yourself won’t help your situation,” the attendee tells him, placing him back down on the stretcher and closing the ambulance doors. “I’ll tell someone to go investigate, alright?”

 

Luke never finds out if she actually did tell someone, passing out only a few short moments later.

 

**

 

The lights are bright when Luke wakes up, a monotone beeping in his ear driving him nuts. His stomach hurts, throbbing and swollen from the gunshot wound. All of him aches, every last bit of him, and he wishes he could fall back asleep just so he didn’t have to feel a thing.

 

“Papa?”

 

His heart quickens when he turns to his side, where Lily is sitting in Calum’s lap. She looks exhausted, dirty, but the smile that breaks out on her face when she sees Luke looking at her makes all the pain Luke has felt fade away. “Hey Lilypad.” He croaks.

 

The little girl jumps off of a sleeping Calum’s lap, pulling herself up onto the bed and wraps her arms around Luke’s neck. It’s a little uncomfortable, and all around painful, but Luke can’t bring himself to care as he wraps his arms around his little girl tightly, holding her as close as he can. He’s pressing multiple kisses into her temple, whispering soft words into her ear as she cries into his neck, and it takes everything in him not cry too.

 

“Where’s your daddy?” he asks, though he’s dreading the answer. As far as he knew, Ashton could be as good as dead.

 

“Right here.”

 

It’s almost like seeing an angel, the way Ashton looks in the doorway. There’s a soft glow around him from the florescent lights that makes him look angelic, his long hair down and framing his face. His arm is wrapped in a cast, the only thing standing out on it is Lily’s name written in what appears to be a purple sharpie. It nearly makes Luke sob.

 

“Want to sign my cast?” Ashton asks cheekily.

 

“Get over here and kiss me,” Luke demands instead, and who is Ashton to deny something such as that? He’s quick to walk over to the bed and pull Luke into a long awaited kiss, despite Lily’s shouts of ‘That’s gross!’ Knowing that Ashton was alive, he was here and nearly perfect, made Luke’s heart soar.

 

 

“What happened to Derek?” he dares to ask, though he dreads the answer. The very thought of his abuser still being alive, still out there being a threat to Luke’s life, was a terrifying thought Luke wished he could will away. “Did he survive?”

 

Ashton kisses his lips once more, a thumb resting on Luke’s cheekbone. “When we fell, I thought we were both going to die. He kept holding me underneath the water, attempting to drown me, but I managed to overpower him and toss him away from me.” He shudders, eyes closing as he swallows. Luke knows then that what happened next must have been difficult for Ashton, and he makes sure to press a kiss to his boyfriend’s lips to assure him he’s alright. “He came behind me, managed to break my arm against one of the dock posts. It was hard to stay above water with just one arm keeping me afloat, but I managed to use my other arm to knock him into the post as well. He hit his head pretty hard, and he sank into the water…” He bites his lip. “He drowned Luke, he’s never coming back.”

 

Derek was dead.

 

Derek was _gone._

Luke felt like he could breathe again. For the first time in so long, the feeling of fear and panic of Derek finding him was gone. Derek wasn’t going to be looking for him anymore, there wasn’t a chance that he could come back and drag Luke back into the hell he was living.

 

Luke was finally _safe._

**

 

Luke swears there is nothing more beautiful than how Ashton looked in the mornings.

 

Luke’s just woken up, Ashton fast asleep against his chest with soft snores pouring from his mouth. He has an arm securely around his waist, his thumb rubbing softly on his hipbone while his other hand is tangled in the jungle that was Ashton’s hair, smoothing out the knots that came about from sleep. Luke’s heart swells in his chest as he simply stares at his boyfriend of nearly a year now, the one who made him feel safe a secure when he thought he was in hell.

 

Ashton stirs then, lifting his head up to smile sleepily at Luke. “Morning,” he whispers, reaching up and kissing Luke softly. “Do you want to wake Lily up and get her ready for school or should I?”

They had formed a system: when Lily started school, the two of them usually worked together to get the little girl up and ready for it, Ashton making breakfast while Luke made sure she wore clothes that actually matched. It was a perfect system, except for this particular morning where Luke was feeing quite lazy.

 

“Can’t we just let her get ready herself?” he pouts, playing with Ashton’s hair some more. “I don’t think I want either one of us leaving this bed.”

 

Ashton hums at his words, pecking his lips before pulling himself out of the bed and walking towards their bathroom. “Let me take a quick shower and I’ll go cook up some pancakes, alright? You go wake up Sleeping Beauty.” He shuts the bathroom door before Luke can make any arguments, making the man huff and pull himself up out of the bed and head towards their closet to pull on some boxer shorts before heading towards his daughter’s room.

 

A couple of months back, Luke had adopted Lily as his own daughter, legally becoming Lily’s other father. It was a happy moment for the entire family, though it confused Lily, who already considered Luke her papa despite it not being written on paper. It was nice though, being able to refer to Lily as his daughter and have it be legally true now.

 

He knocks softly on her bedroom door, hearing some rustling before he opens the door to find his daughter on her bed, dressed in a bright purple outfit. “Morning pretty girl, that’s a cute outfit!”

 

Lily beams at him, smoothing out her shirt. “Daddy said it was Mommy’s favorite color, and since we are visiting her grave today I thought I’d wear it for her.”

 

Luke had nearly forgotten about that. Today was the anniversary of Anna’s death, and the three of them were going to visit her grave after Lily got out of school. Apparently Ashton did this every single year, just so Lily could remember her mother and so he could remember the woman he used to loved, still loves.

 

Luke wishes he could have got to know Anna, even if it meant she would still be with Ashton. The way Ashton speaks of her, the way Calum talks about her sometimes, makes Luke wish he could have met the woman and told her how much people loved her. He sometimes finds himself looking at the old pictures Ashton has around the house of he and his wife, smiling photos of happier times, and Luke can’t help but fall in love with her a little bit too. She seems like the person that everyone could fall in love with.

 

“I’m sure your mommy would think you were beautiful,” he tells his daughter, kissing her cheek. “C’mon, daddy is making pancakes for breakfast and if we don’t get down there fast enough he’s going to eat all of them.” He watches as Lily darts off towards the stairs, laughing and it makes Luke fall in love with his little girl all over again.

 

It’s later, when the three of them are sharing breakfast and laughing over Lily’s outrageous stories, that Luke realizes just how lucky he is. He has a boyfriend who loves him more than anything, a daughter who makes him fall more in love with her every single minute, and for once, he’s not living in his own personal hell.

 

Ashton takes his hand underneath the table, lacing their fingers together, and there’s a small smile on Ashton’s face when Luke squeezes their hands.

 

And at that moment, what was past, stayed past.

**Author's Note:**

> come find me at lucasashtons :)


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